The Tramcar will Return

Well known member and author Tony Young has just published his autobiography, entitled ‘The Tramcar will Return’. Tony has dedicated the book to “’to all those members of the LRTA and TLRS who have kept alive the spirit of tramways and light rail systems in British towns and cities and to those professionals and politicians who have made it happen.’ A full review of the book will appear in our historical magazine ‘Tramway Review’.

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, a quarter of a million Glaswegians braved the pouring rain to say goodbye.

Thirty 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 onto the streets of 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, a term invented to avoid any confusion with old double deckers clanking down the middle of the road. It is interlaced with stories of tramways in the UK, Europe and beyond, gained when working as an international light rail consultant.

The book is available as a Paperback, Hardback or eBook directly from Publishers Austin Maculey Publishers Ltd or the hardback version will be available shortly (with 10% members discount) from the LRTA Shop.