The Sunderland District Electric Tramways operated an electric tramway service from Grangetown to

Easington Lane Easington Lane is a village in the City of Sunderland metropolitan borough in the county of Tyne and Wear, North East England. Historically part of County Durham and located between Hetton-le-Hole, Seaham, Peterlee and Durham. It had a populatio ...

between 1905 and 1925.

History

The company was registered on 5 November 1903.The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908 Construction took nearly 18 months and the system was ready for opening on 10 June 1905. The main route of the tramway ran from Grangetown via

Herrington Herrington is an area in the south of Sunderland, lying within historic County Durham in North East England. ''The Herringtons'' are split into ''East & Middle'' and ''West'' and ''New'' villages. East and Middle Herrington is now a largely re ...

, with branches to

Fencehouses Fence Houses, or ''Fencehouses'', is a small village within the parish of Houghton-le-Spring, on the edge of the City of Sunderland, England for the South with the North under the control of Durham County Council as part of County Durham. It cam ...

and

Penshaw The village of Penshaw , formerly known as ''Painshaw'' or ''Pensher'', is an area of the metropolitan district of the City of Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, England. Historically, Penshaw was located in County Durham. Name and etymology The ...

. The Newcastle upon Tyne Electricity Supply Company built a power plant at

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, behind the Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries power station. The tram depot was located next to it and could house eighteen trams. On 3 January 1921 through running started between the

Sunderland Corporation Tramways Sunderland Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Sunderland (then part of County Durham) between 1900 and 1954. History In 1900 Sunderland Corporation bought the Sunderland Tramways Company which had operated a horse-drawn tramwa ...

system at Grangetown.

Fleet

*1-15

Brush Electrical Engineering Company Brush Traction is a manufacturer and maintainer of railway locomotives in Loughborough, England. It is a subsidiary of Wabtec. History Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works Henry Hughes had been operating at the Falcon Works since t ...

1905 *16-30 Arbel (French company) 1905 *31 Track sweeper/snow broom 1906 *32-34

1908 *34-38

1920

Closure

The company disposed of some trams in 1924 to

Bolton Corporation Tramways Bolton Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Bolton between 1899 and 1947. History The Corporation took over the Bolton Horse Tramways and the tramway assets of Edmund Holden and Company in June 1899, and undertook a programme o ...

. The remaining trams were sold in 1925, sixteen to Grimsby Corporation Tramways and others to

Manchester Corporation Tramways Between 1901 and 1949 Manchester Corporation Tramways (known as Manchester Corporation Transport Department from 1929 onwards) was the municipal operator of electric tram services in Manchester, England. At its peak in 1928, the organisation ca ...

. The tramway system closed on 15 July 1925 and the company was renamed as the Sunderland District Omnibus Company, running a fleet of blue buses.

References

{{Historic UK Trams Tram transport in England