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In 1904, six bogie cars and a water car (used for keeping down the dust on the streets) were added to the fleet, from the same manufacturer. The electric tram services were originally operated by 30 four-wheeled double decked cars supplied by Dick, Kerr & Co. The trams operated from a new depot in Mill Lane, a site that was to remain Reading Transport's main depot until it was demolished to make way for The Oracle shopping mall in 1998. Extensions were constructed to the Wokingham Road and London Road (both from Cemetery Junction), and new routes added to Whitley, Caversham Road, Erleigh Road and Bath Road. The new electric trams started operating in July 1903. Main article: Reading Corporation Tramways The extensions were completed by December 1902, and the last horse cars ran in July of the following year.
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The corporation set out about first extending, and then electrifying the system. The purchase deal was completed on 31 October 1901, and Reading Corporation Tramways came into being. The company made several proposals to add routes and electrify the system, but none of these were implemented, and in 1899 the borough corporation decided to purchase the system. By the 1890s the whole fleet had been replaced by double-decked cars operating at a 10-minute frequency. The cars operated from a depot on the south side of the Oxford Road, immediately to the east of Reading West railway station. A fleet of six single-decked cars were initially used, with 31 horses, providing a 20-minute frequency. Ĭonstruction started in January 1879, with the entire line open by May.
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This route formed the core of what became known as the main line of the tram and trolleybus network. The company was authorised to construct and operate a horse tram route on an east–west alignment from Oxford Road through Broad Street in the town centre to Cemetery Junction. The origins of Reading Transport can be traced back to the 19th century, when the privately owned Reading Tramways Company (part of the Imperial Tramways Company) was formed.