Burton Upon Trent

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Burton upon Trent
Burton upon Trent
More Info[1] Local history society
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Public transportation in Burton started with a horse-drawn omnibus line between the railway station and the Three Queens hotel in Bridge street. From 1871, omnibus services had to be licensed. In 1876, an omnibus line connected Burton-upon-Trent station with Hampton-in Arden, on the London - Birmingham railway line. These services had only limited success until rates sank from fourpence to twopence in 1887. Lines and frequencies increased steadily, until the establishment of an electric tramway network.

The electric tramway opened in August 1903. The system was exploited by the Burton-upon-Trent Corporation Tramways. The cars were initially open-top double deckers, but most cars were fitted with a roof on the top floor later. The Ryknield bus factory ran an experimental bus line in late 1907. Demand was insufficient and the experiment failed. The company owning the factory was liquidated in 1910. Additionally, from June 1906, the Midland Railway company ran a tramway network under the name Burton and Ashby Light railways. It connected its railway stations at Gresley, Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Burton-upon-Trent running through Bretby, Newhall and Swadlincote in South Derbyshire. Midland was bought by the larger London, Midland & Scottish Railway in 1923. At that time, tramways were already losing against more flexible buses. A particular sore point in Burton was the Trent bridge. Originally, it was expected that the bridge would be widened, so only a single track was laid. The bridge remained as it was and so did the track. That bottleneck would not have bothered buses.

In 1924, the tramway network was completed with 3 bus lines. Their uptake expanded rapidly. The curtain fell in February 1927 for the Burton and Ashby Light railways and for the Burton-upon-Trent Corporation Tramways on the last day of 1929. In 1934, the Burton Corporation Transport Department system introduced diesel buses. Following the Local Government Act 1972, the bus network was nationalised in 1974. Nationalisation caused a re-branding of the system to East Staffordshire District Council, but otherwise changed little, as Burton was the administrative centre of East Staffordshire. The system was privatised as mandated by the Local Government and Transport Acts 1985, becoming in turn part of Stevenson's of Uttoxeter, Arriva and Arriva Midlands.

  • 1903 - 1929 Burton-upon-Trent Corporation Tramways
  • 1906 - 1927 Burton and Ashby Light railways
  • 1930 - 1974 Burton Corporation Transport Department (the only token issuer, see below)
  • 1974 - 1985 East Staffordshire District Council

Later concessionary fare tokens were issued by East_Staffordshire_Borough_Council but for use on all the services operated within the borough.

Burton Upon Trent Corporation Transport
BUR.001.jpg
Source (Smith-148/BA)
Filename BUR.001
Value 1d
Add Desc.
Size (mm) 23
Manufacture White Plastic
Notes BUR.001 Varieties
BUR.0015.jpg
Source (Smith-148/BB)
Filename BUR.0015
Value 1½d
Add Desc.
Size (mm) 23
Manufacture Red Plastic
Notes pattern 1½d exists in Violet

BUR.0015 Varieties

BUR.002.jpg
Source (Smith-148/BC)
Filename BUR.002
Value 2d
Add Desc.
Size (mm) 23
Manufacture Blue Plastic
Notes BUR.002 Varieties
BUR.0025.jpg
Source (Smith-148/BD)
Filename BUR.0025
Value 2½d
Add Desc.
Size (mm) 23
Manufacture Green Plastic
Notes
BUR.003.jpg
Source (Smith-148/BE)
Filename BUR.003
Value 3d
Add Desc.
Size (mm) 23
Manufacture Lemon Plastic
Notes