Trams and Buses

We sometimes do silly things in Britain. I understand why we removed trams from the towns and cities throughout Britain, but it was a shortsighted move, which has left us all the poorer.

Swansea Tramshed Museum exhibits

Believe it or not the world's first tramway - in fact the world's first passenger railway - was between Swansea and Mumbles. This started as long ago as 1807 and was horse drawn. Huge red double decker trams ran on the line until 1960, when they were all scrapped. The tracks were ripped up, and only the front end of one of the trams remains, which can be seen in the tramshed belonging to the Waterfront Museum in Swansea.

Cards on the table, I love trams, and whenever I go abroad I seek out trams and try them out.
Speaking of museums - as in the above picture - Swansea also has its own bus museum, and this is where I made the ink sketch below: -

Going back to trams, for what it's worth, in no particular order here's my rating of the tram systems I've used.

Blackpool

For what it's worth, if you google Tram systems in the UK, you'll probably get told that there are in fact 8 of them: -
Blackpool
South London - London Tramlink
Birmingham - Midland Metro
Manchester Metrolink
Nottingham Express Transit
Sheffield Supertram
Tyne and Wear Metro
Edinburgh Trams
However, for one thing the Tyne and Wear Metro is a light railway metro system, and, although excellent in itself, most definitely not a tram network. With the exception of Blackpool, the oldest and largest of the other 6 networks is the Manchester Metrolink, opened in . . . 1992.

Now, I have yet to use many British modern tramways. I have actually seen trams in Manchester and Wimbledon, but on both occasions time prohibited me from taking a journey on either. Both looked to me like fine examples of modern city trams, and as soon as I have the opportunity I intend to put it to the test, and likewise with the other networks.

However, ironically, the first British tramway I have actually used is the Blackpool tramway, the only network dating back to the 'golden age' of first generation trams.One of the archetypal images of Blackpool is the traditional ‘double decker’ balloon trams. In fact it’s worth going to Blackpool just to ride on a balloon tram, since the overwhelming majority of tram networks operate exclusively single decker rolling stock.

We can rightly applaud the good burghers of Blackpool for their sense in keeping their trams while all around were losing theirs in the 50s. In 1962, when Glasgow finally lost its own tramways, Blackpool was the only town or city in the UK to have kept its trams. However, over the next few years lines were closed until only the one line, running along the coast, remained. In a way, this does give the Blackpool tramways the feeling , well, not quite the feeling of a preserved railway line, but certainly a feeling closer to that of a heritage line rather than a busy, city tram network, despite the sleek modern trams which operate alongside the balloon trams and other heritage vehicles.

Is that a problem? No, of course not. Blackpool has every right to be accepted for what it is, and in fact it's quite unashamed about it. Blackpool loves its trams, which look particularly incredible during the Blackpool Illuminations, and I love Blackpool. I'll be honest, I don't think that you can call yourself a love of trams, and not like Blackpool. Enough said.




Manchester

The first of the other British towns to have the good sense to reinstall tram systems, was, I believe, Manchester, and the Manchester Metrolink is a thing for the city to be very proud of. I was fortunate enough to visit Manchester twice during 2007, and the trams were already a sight for sore eyes then. I was appearing on a TV show at the time, and I never really had time to take a journey, which I would otherwise have loved to do. Still, the sight of sleek, modern trams running through very English streets was a really joyous sight to behold.

London

It's a matter of some pride to me that my own home town has embraced trams again. Well, let's qualify this. The London Tramlink used to be known as the Croydon tramlink, because it runs in South West London. I don't know if we'll ever see trams running in the streets of Central London again - certainly doubt it will ever happen in my lifetime. It's a matter of shame to me to admit that I have never yet taken a ride on the Tramlink. I don't get to London very often any more, but it runs well within walking distance of my brother-in-law's house in Wimbledon.

Nottingham

I have to be honest, given the choice, this is how I like to see trams best, in the city centre, passing by monumental civic architecture. The NET - Nottingham Express Transit, which first ran in 2004, is a thing of beauty and joy to my eyes.

West Midlands

The West Midlands Metro is a tramway system linking the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands - hence the name, West Midlands Metro. The first picture, to the right here, shows the tram running past Corporation Street. I love to see and ride on trams which are running through streets, and for me this part of the journey, just after the tram leaves Grand Central (New Street Station) that is the best. You snake up and down hill, and even do a bit of trundling round a couple of fairly sharp corners - and you have to know that I think all trams should be required to trundle for at least part of their journey.  I took my

first ride on this line in October of 2018, and I have to say that it was a real pleasure. This is when I made the sketch on the left, based on several photographs I took of the tram at Wolverhampton St. George's before we returned to Birmingham. A lot of the line uses the trackbed of former railway tracks, since it only really runs in streets at the Birmingham and Wolverhampton ends of the line. Nonetheless, I have to say that the 40 minute ride - well, the 90 minute round trip - was a pleasure. The trams, unlike my experience of European trams, have a conductor. When I told the chap that I wanted a return, and that I wouldn't even be getting off at the Wolverhampton end, since all I was interested in was riding the tram, he gave me a knowing smile that seemed to say - I know what you mean, and if I wasn't getting paid then I'd be doing this for nothing.- Just great. 

Sheffield

Edinburgh

Prague

The first city break I took in a city with a good tram network, as opposed to a single line was in Prague, and I feel that I was rather spoilt by the experience. Looking at it from a different perspective, though, if you can use Prague's trams without falling for them, then you're never going to be that bothered by trams. For me, though, it really was the start of something. Since Prague I've tried to make the most of every opportunity to use a tram that has come my way.

What is so special about Prague's trams, then? Well,on the one hand, they're plentiful, comfortable and efficient. On the other hand, they're also rather more picturesque than some of the modern tram systems I've been on. Granted, there are some very modern looking trams running in Prague. However, there are also rather more quaint looking trams, like the one in the sketch, which may even have been running as long ago as the Communist era. And I like that. Yes, I like trams that are smooth, and efficient. But I love trams that trundle. I think that all trams should be required to trundle for at least a proportion of each journey, and Prague, with its proliferation of rather sharp turns, has trams that have to trundle from time to time.

I don't know how heavily the tram system is subsidised, but you can buy a cheap all day ticket which gives you the run of the tram network, and is absolutely the best way of seeing and getting to know the city. I'm not saying that using the tram network extensively was the absolute highlight of my visit to Prague - but I'm not saying that it wasn't either. Essentially, everything you could want from a tram network, and I've enjoyed sketching Prague's trams in both ink and watercolour wash very much indeed.

Berlin

Compared with its Prague counterpart, the Berlin tram network is ultra-modern. Like Prague, the trams are an exceptionally cost-effective way of getting around the city.

Compared with those of Prague, Berlin's trams are smooth, sleek, ultra modern and fast. And, consequently, far less interesting. The routes that I went on were far straighter than Prague's , whose trams often have to snake around what seem to be impossibly tight corners.

Even when snaking around corners into the Alexanderplatz, I found that all of Berlin's trams that I used achieved their purpose with a minimum of trundling. If anything, Berlin's trams swish. Again, though, you ride on Berlin's trams, then think of sitting on a British city centre bus in a traffic jam, and it just brings home to you how much our cities have missed a trick.

Budapest

Budapest's has its smaller, more quaint looking trams plying the routes along both banks of the Danube in the centre of the city. These are very nice, although for me still rather more angular and less attractive than the older trams of Prague. When they go under the Chain Bridge, though, they do trundle, which is all to the good.

The majority of the network though runs trams which approach Berlin's in terms of their modernity and efficiency, although are somewhat smaller than their German counterparts. I would say that I can't imagine you finding a half eaten pizza left on one of the seats of a Berlin tram in the way that I did on the number 50 in Budapest.

Kaunas

No trams, alas. Still, they did at least have a fairly extensive network of trolleybuses. These are all painted in a uniform shade of green, not quite military but certainly on the way, and all bar the newest have a pretty utilitarian appearance. Nonetheless, they're not totally without charm. In a way, to me they're almost symbolic of Kaunas itself. Like the city they don't go shouting their own praises and virtues from the roof tops, but you come to appreciate them more and more through acquaintance with them.

Madrid

Although a wonderful city in many ways, Madrid does lack a tram system. Its Metro, mind you, is excellent. Still, coming back to street transport, I was quite taken with their fleet of small blue buses. They look like normal single decker buses, which have had the middle cut out of them, and then been welded back together. They have appeal. To be honest, the Metro is so good, and the city is such a good walking system that I suppose that a god tramway would be just gilding the lily a little bit. Would still be nice, though.

Alicante

I'd been to Alicante many times before, but somehow the tram network had passed me by. Perhaps this is because the trams in the city are underground - in many ways they're quite like a light railway. I believe that they come above ground once they get out of the centre of the city, and they do go on as far as Benidorm. However, they are officially designated as trams, and that works for me.

Amsterdam

I've had a hankering to visit Amsterdam for many a long year now, and it has nothing to do with narcotics or naughty ladies either. It just seemed to me that in almost everything I've ever heard about the city, the Amsterdammers seem to be getting it right. I'm delighted to say that based on a couple of days spent sightseeing in the end of October of 2018, that impression seems to have been correct. One thing they've definitely got right is the way that trams are, so it seems to me, the dominant form of public transport within the city. I paid 17 Euros in my hotel for a 3 day pass which entitled me to use all the buses, all the trams and the Metro for 3 whole days. Now, I possibly paid more than I would have done if I'd bought it from a station, but it's still such a good deal I didn't begrudge one

cent. As for Amsterdam's trams, I'm delighted to say that although modern, they do trundle along with the very best of them. An utter delight.

Stockholm 2019

I visited Stockholm in late February of 2019. Not necessarily the best time of year to do so, but there I was lucky. Normally you mightn't expect the temperature that time of year to be much above freezing, but I was fortunate that the coldest day while I was there was still about 5 degrees. As for trams, well their use was nowhere near as extensive in the centre of Stockholm as it is in Amsterdam. Nonetheless, the couple of trams I did use were comfortable, prompt, and enjoyable. The number 7 here runs from the T-Centralen - the main railway station in the centre of Stockholm, through the Djurgarden. The Djurgarden is the island that's home to the Vasa Mseum, the Nordiske Museum, the Abba Museum, the Skansen Open Air Museum - look, I could go on, but it's a popular island, right. As for the trams themselves, they're bombardier trams, smaller than those of Berlin, similar to some of the bigger and newer ones in Amsterdam. 

Murcia 2019

When I visited the Alicante area in 2018 I missed out on going on Murcia's tram network simply because I didn't know about it, not finding our until the day after my visit. I didn't make the same mistake with Alicante, but had to make the decision that Murcia would have to wait until I came back in 2019. This is how it worked out. There's really only two main routes in Murcia, but at least they are overground, which is nice especially on the southern part of the loop where it touches the centre of the city. Nice modern trams, as you can see from the picture, rather similar to those of Stockholm and Amsterdam.

Vienna 2019

Tram-wise (and pretty much every other way wise) Vienna was great fun. The top picture s the old fashioned tram for the tram our around the Ringstrasse from the Schwedenplatz. The second picture is a sketch I made in the Remise Tram Museum, and the third is of an everyday tram on the streets.

Reykjavik 2020

No trams or trollies in Reykjavik - and no trains anywhere on Iceland for that matter. Just buses like this one. 

Edinburgh and Dundee 2021 

Just the one tramlinein Edinburgh. mind you it's a very helpful one, going, as it does, all the way from the airport to York Place. 

This old tram is one I found in Dundee, converted to a coffee shop booth. It's not quite the Tramvaj Cafe in Prague, but rather delightful all the same. 

Warsaw 2022

I very much enjoyed the trams I used in Warsaw. I wouldn't necessarily say that it's quite such a great tram city as Prague, and Vienna for example, but it ain't far behind. This tram I sketched on the Slasko Dabrowski Bridge, which crosses the Vistula to outside of the Royal Castle.

This old tram just sits on the side of this main road. I walked all around it, but couldn't be certain what it's there for. There are head and shoulders photographs in most of the windows, not unlike a hairdressers. It wasn't open. If it had been, and if it was a hairdressers, then I'd have been sorely tempted to get my barnet cut. In all honesty I don't know the purposes it serves and haven't been able to find out since I returned home. 

Riga 2023

I visited Riga in the Easter of 2023. Riga does not have a metro network - shame - but as compensation it does have trams and trolleybuses. Here's the sketches I made of both.

I saw quite a few different types of tram in Riga, but this type were my favourite. They look rather reminiscent of the older trams I saw in Prague that were the first type of tram I ever rode in Mainland Europe. Don't get me wrong, I like modern trams very much as well. But this type of tram which look like buses on rails, offers unparalleled opportunities for standing at the back of the car with a wonderful view. More modern trams tend to resemble trains more than buses. 

Speaking of buses:-