page_title: Tramways in Plymouth
section_title: Routes
hierarchical_section_title: Tramways in Plymouth / Routes
caption_attribution_description: English: A view along Union Street, Plymouth, from the railway viaduct towards the town centre. Car 5 of the Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport Tramway is in the foreground.
context_page_description: The tramways in Plymouth were originally constructed as four independent networks operated by three different companies to serve the adjacent towns of Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport in Devon, England. The merger of the 'Three Towns' into the new borough of Plymouth in 1914 was the catalyst for the three companies to join up under the auspices of the new Plymouth Corporation. The network was closed in 1945, partly as a result of bomb damage during World War II.
  The earliest of the three companies, the Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport Tramway, was the first tramway in the United Kingdom to be constructed under the provisions of the Tramways Act 1870. Initially a 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in gauge horse-worked line, it was later converted to 3 ft 6 in gauge and electric power. The second was the Plymouth, Devonport and District Tramway, which was built to 3 feet 6 inch gauge and used both steam and horse power before electrification. The final company was the Devonport and District Tramway which also adopted the 3 feet 6 inch gauge but was electrified from the outset.
context_section_description: The connections made in 1915 between the Devonport and Plymouth networks gave the opportunity to revise the routes and offer through services between Devonport and the centre of Plymouth. In 1921 the service 9 to West Hoe was withdrawn and replaced by extending certain services on routes 4 and 5 from Beaumont Road and Prince Rock to West Hoe. The opening a new line from Pennycomequick to Milehouse via Alma Road allowed a short lived circular service via Peverell and Alma Road. The absorption of the Stonehouse route in 1922 allowed the introduction of a longer-lived circular route by extending routes 2 and 6 back to Theatre along Union Street.
caption: The Stonehouse route in Union Street
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