The Dearne District Light Railway was a

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

way linking Barnsley with the towns of

Wombwell Wombwell () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. The town in the 2011 census was split between a ward called Wombwell, as well as small parts that fell under two other wards called Darfield (specifically ...

Wath Wath may refer to: Places in England * Wath, Cumbria, a U.K. location * Wath (near Ripon), a village in Harrogate district, North Yorkshire * Wath, Ryedale, a village in North Yorkshire * Wath-in-Nidderdale, a village near Pateley Bridge in Har ...

Bolton on Dearne Bolton upon Dearne is a village in South Yorkshire, England, in the part of the Dearne Valley through which the River Dearne passes. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is approximately east of Barnsley, west of Doncaster and ...

and

Thurnscoe Thurnscoe is a village in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. The village falls within the Dearne North ward of the Barnsley MBC. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, the village is approximately fr ...

. Opened on 14 July 1924, it was the last street tramway to be built in the UK before the modern era (starting in the late 20th century) and one of the first to shut. It was granted a Light Railway order (under the 1896 Light Railways Act) in 1915, but

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

delayed its opening. A "car barn" was built at Wombwell, which later became

Yorkshire Traction Yorkshire Traction was a bus operator in Yorkshire that operated from 1902 until 2005. History In March 1902 the Barnsley & District Electric Traction Company Limited was formed. It operated trams around the Barnsley area until around 1930 ...

's bus depot, and single deck vehicles were used throughout its nine-year life span. Because of mining in the area the track was laid on wooden sleepers and covered over and was all single track with passing loops, which was the reason for its downfall. When

motorbus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es started to compete on the same route as the DDLR it was found that because the trams had to wait to pass each other, the bus could complete the journey much quicker and so the electric vehicles had to go. Very few traces of the former DDLR remain now, as the last tram journey reached the end of the line on 30 September 1933, soon to be replaced by the local bus service. The body of a former DDLR car is still in use as a summer house in a garden on the outskirts of Sheffield. File:Dearne_District_Tram_Sept_2003_view_1.JPG, Side view of former DDLR car File:Dearne_District_Tram_Sept_2003_view_2.JPG, End view of former DDLR car T

References

Rail transport in South Yorkshire Tram transport in England Barnsley {{Tram-stub