20th Century

Timeline

Urban

Georgian

Victorian

20th Century

Horse Trams

Electric Trams

Trolleybuses

Buses

Seven Bridges

High Bridge

Caversham Bridge

Reading Bridge

Street Names

Roads

Electric Trams

The Electric Trams replaced the Horse Drawn trams in 1903. The new Electric Trams ran over an extended network based on the horse drawn network. The main line was extended to Grovelands Road in the west and past Palmer Park in the west, with a branch along London Road. There was also a line from the Bath Road via Broad Street to Erleigh Road, and a line from Whitley Hill to Caversham Bridge. A new depot for the trams, along with a Power Station was built in Mill Lane. The land for this was formerly the main course of the River Kennet, running to St Giles Mill. This St Giles Mill stream was filled in, the Mill demolished along with the water tower on the same spot.

The services were in 1904, with the frequency of the service

30 four wheeled tramcars were needed for the services, with another two bogie tramcars being bought in 1904. All the tramcars were open topped, as there was not enough headroom under the low railway bridges in Caversham Road and Oxford Road.

In 1928 two of the tram termini were moved. The Wokingham Road and Oxford Road trams had stopped in the middle of the road before starting back on their return journey. With more traffic on the roads, the layout was changed so that the trams did not get in the way of traffic.

Most of the tram track and tram cars were renewed in the 1920’s. The first section of the tramway to close, in 1930 was the Bath Road branch. This was followed by the Erleigh Road route in 1932

In 1931, the trams and the buses were

In 1931 a committee was set up to look at the future of the tramways, and they decided that the system was to be abandoned and trolleybuses bought instead.

In 1935 Factory Bridge, by Huntley and Palmers, was being rebuilt. This had been a hump back bridge, very steep and at an angle to the road. The new bridge, to be called Crown Bridge, was wide and flat. The Council decided that the main line would be abandoned, and as a temporary measure the new bridge was not too have tram tracks, and that trams would stop either side of the bridge.

The Caversham Whitley route was abandoned in 1936, with trolleybuses taking over within a few days. In 1938 the Oxford Road railway bridge was replaced, which meant another change in track layout. It would now have been possible to run double deck closed top cars down the main line. The last tram ran on the 20th May 1939.