The Tramcar Will Return

Electric tramways formed the backbone of most towns and cities in the first half of the twentieth century. But when they got in the way of cars, they had to go. People loved their trams, they took them to school, to work, to go shopping, to the cinema and to football matches. When the last Glasgow tram ran in 1962, 250,000 Glaswegians braved the pouring rain to say goodbye. 30 years later, trams were re-invented to help combat congestion and environmental impacts of the car. Both eras are covered in this book by an engineer who witnessed the demise of the tram and its revival, playing a major role in getting trams back into Manchester in 1992. Now trams are running again in London, Edinburgh and cities in between. This is a personal story about the last tramways in Britain and the new generation of light rail systems. It is interlaced with stories of tramways in the UK, Europe and beyond, gained when working as an international light rail consultant