How Wolverhampton tramlines were once built in months - as Dudley extension is delayed again

Last week we learned that the long-awaited tram link from Wednesbury to Dudley had been delayed by another year, almost 30 years since the line was first proposed, while the extension to Brierley Hill High Street may never be built.

But it wasn't always like that.

In 1877, the Wolverhampton Tramways Order was passed, giving the Wolverhampton Tramways Company permission to construct three routes: one running from a central hub in Queen Street to Tettenhall, a second one to Willenhall, and a third to Bilston and Moxley.

And within a matter of months, it was ready to run.

The first section, from Tettenhall to Queen Square, was inspected by Major-General Charles Scrope Hutchinson of the Board of Trade on April 30, 1878.

He recorded that the horse-drawn tram took six minutes to get from the yard at the bottom of Darlington Street to Queen Square and back, including the time it took to turn the tram around. It took a further nine minutes to reach the terminus in Tettenhall Road.

After being passed as fit for service, it opened to the general public on May 1.

Wolverhampton Tramways, a private company, laid 1,800 tons of steel rails bought from the Landore-Siemens steel company in South Wales, and paved around them with 10,000 tons of granite from Mount Sorrell and the Clee Hills.