London United Tramways Company Limited was an operator of trams and trolleybuses in the western and southern suburbs of London, UK, from 1894 to 1933, when it passed to the London Passenger Transport Board.

Origins

The company was formed in 1894 by the Imperial Tramways Company under the leadership of George White and

Clifton Robinson Sir (James) Clifton Robinson (1 January 1848 – 6 November 1910), born in Birkenhead, England, was known as the "Tramway King", having involvement in the building and operating of street tramways in New York City, London, Liverpool, Dublin, Cork ...

to take over the assets of the West Metropolitan Tramways Company, which had gone into receivership and had operated a horse-drawn tram service from

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, i ...

to Acton and Chiswick, and from Hammersmith to the north side of Kew Bridge via Chiswick. A short route ran from the south side of Kew Bridge to Richmond.

Electrification

LUT relaid the existing track, which was in a poor state of repair, and extended and electrified the system. Electric trams first ran on three routes on 4 April 1901 between Hammersmith and Kew Bridge, between Shepherd's Bush and Kew Bridge (via Chiswick), and between Shepherd's Bush and Acton, London's first electric tram service.

Richmond branch

Trams never ran across Kew Bridge – the second (stone) bridge, built in the 1780s, was far too narrow, and very steep on the approach from Brentford – which meant that there was an isolated length of single track of 1.53 miles, with passing loops, from the south side of the bridge, across Kew Green, then south along the Kew Road to the Orange Tree public house in Richmond. LUT made repeated attempts to cross Kew Bridge after it was rebuilt in 1903 but these continued to be resisted by the Richmond Corporation Tramways Committee. Kew Road residents opposed two attempts in 1897 and 1898 to install a second track – which would have necessitated road widening – and any subsequent electrification using unsightly overhead wires seemed out of the question, locals favouring the underground conduit system. Kew Observatory had concerns about the introduction of electric trams. So whilst the rest of London went electric, this little branch continued to use horse-drawn cars until well into the twentieth century – the interiors had red velvet seat cushions and were described as "comfortable, if not luxurious", and ran every quarter-hour (the full "end to end" journey costing 2d) – until 20 April 1912 after which it was replaced by part of a London General (

LGOC The London General Omnibus Company or LGOC, was the principal bus operator in London between 1855 and 1933. It was also, for a short period between 1909 and 1912, a motor bus manufacturer. Overview The London General Omnibus Company was fou ...

) motor-bus route. Richmond's tram-shed still exists as the former RACC Shaftesbury Centre in Kew Road, now part of The Falcons School for Boys, just north of the A316.

Extensions to the system

*1901: Chiswick to Brentford and Hounslow, Acton to

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was hi ...

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divid ...

and Uxbridge *1902: Hounslow to Hounslow Heath, Brentford to Richmond and

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the borou ...

. *1903: Twickenham to Hampton, Hampton Court, East Twickenham (just west of

Richmond Bridge Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California ...

) and Teddington. *1906: Richmond Bridge to Ham Common,

Long Ditton Long Ditton is a residential suburb in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England on the boundary with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London. In medieval times it was a village, occupying a narrow strip of land. Neighbouring sett ...

, Malden, Richmond Park Gates, Surbiton and Tolworth. *1907: Malden to Raynes Park and Wimbledon. The LUT system was connected to the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

tram network at Hammersmith in 1908,

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre-Saxon times. ...

in 1922 and

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

in 1931; and to the Metropolitan Electric Tramways (MET) at Acton in 1909.

The LUT Company

The company's headquarters, depot and power station were in Chiswick. On 1 January 1913, LUT became a subsidiary of the London and Suburban Traction Company (LSTC), jointly owned by the

Underground Group The Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited (UERL), known operationally as the Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for the three deep-level "tube"A "tube" railway is an und ...

and British Electric Traction. LSTC also owned the other two tramway companies in the London area, Metropolitan Electric Tramways and South Metropolitan Electric Tramways. In 1930, the London United Tramways Act was passed. This gave it powers to replace loss-making tram routes with trolleybuses. London's first trolleybus service started on LUT's Twickenham to Teddington section on 16 May 1931 and then to Wimbledon, working from Fulwell Garage. These first trolleybuses, nicknamed "Diddlers", which lasted until replaced in 1948, bore a striking frontal resemblance to the 'Feltham' trams, also built around this period. On takeover by the LPTB on 1 July 1933, London United had approximately 29 miles of tram track, 18 of trolleybus route.

Preservation

Only one LUT tramcar survives to the present day: no. 159, which has been restored to original condition and operates at the National Tramway Museum, Crich,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...

References

Sources

*''London's Trams and Trolleybuses'', John R. Day, published by London Transport in 1979 *''The History of British Bus Services'', Second Edition, John Hibbs, Newton Abbot, 1979 *''The London United Tramways – Origins to 1912'', Volume One, C.S. Smeeton, LRTA & TLRS, 1994 *''A Scientific Workshop Threatened by Applied Science: Kew Observatory to Be Removed Owing to the Disturbance Caused by Electric Traction'', The Illustrated London News, 8 August 1903

External links

LUT Car 135 at Shepherd's BushLondon's Transport History 1901-1913, LT MuseumHistory of LUT Fulwell Depot (Twickenham Museum website)The Maidenhead Story article on Chiswick's Trams
* ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNfqXL_0usg/Video - London's Diddler Trolleybus in Action {{Historic UK Trams Trams in London Trolleybus transport in the United Kingdom