Coventry Transport 1884 – 1940 (Images of England)

Coventry, home of much of Britain's car industry, saw its first public transport in 1884 when a tramway system was developed from the city to Bedworth. Running until 1893, it was powered by steam trams. In 1895, the system was electrified and developed further. It survived through the First World War but, for the advent of the Second, would have succumbed to closure in 1939. Coventry Corporation eventually owned a large number of busses and ran regular services in the city too, something was to end only in 1974 after local government re-organisation.