The end is approaching for the Weymouth Harbour Tramway with work having now started on removing the long disused tracks of the line which connected with the main London to Weymouth railway line and were once used for workings connecting with ferries to the Channel Islands.
As we reported earlier in the year approval had been given for ownership of the line to be transferred to Dorset County Council which would then allow for the removal of the tracks. They were last used by trains in 1999 and in recent years have the subject of a lot debate over the future with campaigners calling both for their retention and their removal (not the same campaigners obviously!). Their original purpose of transporting people to the Channel Island ferries has also now disappeared with these ferries no longer operating from Weymouth.
In the end health and safety considerations won out with the rails considered dangerous and not able to be reused because of their condition. There had been some hopes of a heritage line of some sort but these were never seriously considered by local authorities.
The removal of the tracks started earlier this month and will see traffic diversions in Weymouth Town Centre whilst they are completed. This will bring an end to 155 years of the line and there are no plans for this to marked with one suggestion of a velocipede (pump bicycle) running to say goodbye rejected by the Council.