Burnley Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

between 1901 and 1935.

History

In 1900, the assets of the Burnley & District Tramways Company were purchased by Burnley Corporation for the sum of £53,000 (equivalent to £ in ). This had operated standard gauge steam hauled trams since 1881. The corporation rebuilt the tramway to 4’ gauge, as this was in use by neighbouring systems, and there were plans to link to these systems. The tramway was powered by direct current electricity at 530/565 volts supplied from

Burnley power station Burnley power station supplied electricity to the town of Burnley, Lancashire from 1893 to 1958. The electricity station was owned and operated by Burnley Corporation prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity industry in 1948. It w ...

. The first converted route to

Padiham Padiham ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Calder, about west of Burnley, Lancashire, England. It forms part of the Borough of Burnley. Originally by the River Calder, it is edged by the foothills of Pendle Hill to the north-west ...

opened on 16 December 1901, and the second in 1902 to Nelson, which permitted through running onto Nelson Corporation Tramways tracks. In July 1903 a route to Rosegrove opened, and in February 1904 to

Towneley Park Towneley Park is owned and managed by Burnley Borough Council and is the largest and most popular park in Burnley, Lancashire, England. The main entrance to the park is within a mile of the town centre and the park extends to the south east, cov ...

and Summit. In 1910 new routes to Gannow Lane and Lane Head were opened. Extensions were made in 1910 on the

route as far as Rock Lane. The Summit line was extended to Rossendale Road. In 1912, the Lane Head route was extended to

Harle Syke Harle Syke is a small village within the parish of Briercliffe, situated three miles north of Burnley, Lancashire, England. It was the home to eleven weaving firms, working out of seven mills. Queen Street Mill closed in 1982, and was converted t ...

. In 1924 the company name changed from Burnley Corporation Tramways to Burnley Corporation Tramways & Omnibuses.

Fleet

The company amassed a fleet of 72 vehicles: *1-24 G.F. Milnes & Co. 1901 (10 was renumbered 68 after rebuilding following the accident in 1923). *25-38 G.F. Milnes & Co. 1903 *39-46 ERTCW 1903 *47 United Electric Car Company 1907 *48-52 Hurst Nelson 1909 *53-54 United Electric Car Company 1910 *55-57 United Electric Car Company 1911 *58-67 United Electric Car Company 1913 *68-72

English Electric N.º UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail) The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during th ...

1921 (68 was later renumbered 73

Accident of 1923

On 21 December 1923 a coal lorry collided with a tram No 10 on Briercliffe Road. This sent the tramcar backwards down the road. The tramcar derailed and crashed into a house and shop on the corner of Sedbergh St. The conductor, William Simpson, and a 14-year-old schoolgirl, Ethel Pomfret were killed. Seven other passengers were injured.

Closure

Burnley, Nelson and Colne became a combined transport undertaking on 1 April 1933.The Golden Age of Buses, Charles Klapper. The new organisation closed down the remaining tramway services in Burnley on 7 May 1935.

References

{{Borough of Burnley culture Tram transport in England Transport in Burnley Historic transport in Lancashire 4 ft gauge railways in England History of Burnley Borough