(Part 1 – Beginnings, and Part 2 – Electrification and Unification can be found here, and there is also an addendum with other notable tram lines)
Expansion
As well as rolling out electrification of the network in record speed, The new Dublin United Tramways Co. also expanded it. In 1899 a new route from Kenilworth Square to Lansdowne Road opened up, and a route from Clonskeagh to Nelson’s Pillar via Leeson Street. They also extended existing lines; Drumcondra was extended to Whitehall near Griffith Avenue, the Dolphin’s Barn route was extended to Rialto Bridge near St. James’ Hospital, and the Rathmines line to Dartry near the east side of current day Dartry Park.
The laying of track on Baggot Street in 1906 allowed the Donnybrook trams to run via St. Stephen’s Green And in the same year a large power station in Ringsend was completed which could power the whole network, leading to the closure of the two power stations in Clontarf and on Shelbourne road. The Art Deco style building that’s now used by Windmill Lane Studios used to be a DUTC power station as well, but this was built later in 1932, next to the larger, original power station from 1906.
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Part 1 – beginnings, can be found here
Mergers
Before the last independent horse tram company was founded, some of the early companies had started talking about joining forces, and in 1881 the DTC, NDSTC, and the DCT merged into the Dublin United Tramways Company (DUTCo). This company would become the basis for one, unified, Dublin tramway system (and later Córas Iompair Éireann) but they were still facing competition from the South Dublin tram companies who had both been acquired in 1893 by Imperial Tramways of Bristol and merged into one company.
Electrification
The “Tramway King” Clifton Robinson ran the new company and immediately started making changes. Firstly the rails running from Dún Laoghaire to Dalkey were standardised to the same gauge as all other rails, but more importantly he wanted to electrify the whole line from Haddington Road to Dalkey, and reduced the fares by 50%. Despite objections from the railway company and the DUTCo, he did get all necessary permissions, built a new power station and car shed on Shelbourne Road (as of writing this is now a Mercedes car dealership), and installed the overhead wire system. The power station was capable of driving 50 trams, weighing 10 tonnes each, at the same time.
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The Beginning of City Transportation Systems
The rise of city transportation is directly linked to the growth of cities in the 18th and 19th century. For example, in 1660 Dublin’s population was around 8,800 people, by 1760 it had grown to 141,000, and by 1860 there were over 260,000 inhabitants. As the population grew, the city spread out and absorbed smaller towns and villages, creating what we now call suburbs. Unless you were rich and had your own coach, you’d depend on renting a coach to travel around the city, and those weren’t exactly affordable either for the common man.
The idea of a coach transporting people along a fixed route within a city began in Nantes, France around 1823. A man called Stanislas Baudry opened a bath house far away from the city centre and started a shuttle service that left the town centre on a regular schedule. The first bus held 16 passengers, seated on two benches along the side of the coach.
After Baudry realised that not all passengers were going to the bath house, but used the shuttle to travel to destinations along the route, he saw an opportunity and opened up the first urban transit service in 1826 in Nantes, calling his coaches “Omnibus” (Latin for “for all”). He quickly expanded to Bordeaux, Lyon, and eventually Paris.
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The Rise and Fall of the First Dublin Tram Network – Part 3: The Pre-War Glory Days and the Post War Decline
(Part 1 – Beginnings, and Part 2 – Electrification and Unification can be found here, and there is also an addendum with other notable tram lines) Expansion As well as …
The Rise and Fall of the First Dublin Tram Network – Part 2: Electrification and Unification
Part 1 – beginnings, can be found here Mergers Before the last independent horse tram company was founded, some of the early companies had started talking about joining forces, and …
The Rise and Fall of the First Dublin Tram Network – Part 1: Beginnings
The Beginning of City Transportation Systems The rise of city transportation is directly linked to the growth of cities in the 18th and 19th century. For example, in 1660 Dublin’s …