Still Standing! Tram track, Southsea

We return with more from our “Still Standing!” series and head to the south coast for some surviving tram track in Southsea near Portsmouth.

Horse drawn trams first ran in Portsmouth in 1865 with the Corporation taking over operation in 1901 and then electrifying the routes using the overhead system. Running on a gauge of 4foot 7 ¾ inches the maximum route length of the network was 28 miles. With trolleybuses being introduced in the city the end for the tramways was close and the final tram services ran on 10^th November 1936.

But despite the fact that it has been almost 90 years since the last trams ran there are several sections of tram track which have been preserved to show the heritage of the city. In total there are three different sections which have been deliberately retained – they are at Old Commercial Road (in front of Charles Dickens’ birthplace), Broad Street, Old Portsmouth and the section we feature below which is on Rugby Road in Southsea close to Priory School and the old Gaumont Cinema.

To commemorate what the track is there was a plaque on the wall of the school but this was removed as long ago as 2012 so now the track is just there with no context! Fortunately the internet helps us here as it has information on the plaque which said “In this road is one of three preserved sections of exposed tram track in the city. This example shows the unusual semi-crossovers used to keep trams in the middle of the road without the need for points.  Trams first ran on the track on the 26th August 1901. Its use ceased at the end of 1931. Work on restoring the road surface was carried out in 1987-88 on behalf of Hampshire County Council by Portsmouth City Council as part of the Urban Regeneration Programme.”

There is a fairly significant section of track which has been preserved – complete with cobbled road we see the curved track.

Interlaced track in the narrow street was necessary.

A close-up of the detail of the track. (All Photographs by David Jones, 22nd April 2022)