Kidderminster and Stourport Electric Tramway
Owner Kidderminster and Stourport Electric Tramway Company (a subsidiary of the British Electric Traction Company)
Opened 28th May 1898 (electric)
Operator Kidderminster and Stourport Electric Tramway Company
Ownership transferred 19th December 1898 (to the Kidderminster and District Electric Light and Traction Company - a BETCo subsidiary)
Taken over (management) October 1915 - joined the Birmingham and Midland Joint Committee of Electricity, Tramways and Motor Omnibus Undertakings, which had been set up by the BETCo to manage its Black Country and Birmingham-area assets
Closed 2nd April 1929
Length 4.6 miles
Gauge 3ft 6ins
Button description Wheel, magnet and electrical flashes
Materials used Brass and black composite
Button Line reference [113/16]
Comment The British Electric Traction Company had a common approach to all its subsidiaries, so staff uniforms would certainly have borne standard BETCo 'Magnet and Wheel' buttons.
The history of BETCo-owned tramways in the Black Country is a complex one. The BETCo essentially started by acquiring an interest in several local tramways (Dudley and Wolverhampton Tramways; Dudley and Stourbridge Steam Tramways; and South Staffordshire Tramways) in 1897, then rapidly expanded its influence by gaining control of several other tramways. On the 1st July 1904, the BETCo transferred its shares in these companies to Birmingham and Midland Tramways Limited, a company which it directly controlled. The six tramways (later seven) were thereafter managed as a single concern by the Birmingham and Midland Tramways Joint Committee (from October 1915, the Birmingham and Midland Joint Committee of Electricity, Tramways and Motor Omnibus Undertakings), which comprised board members from the individual concerns:
- Birmingham and Midland Tramways (via the Birmingham and Midland Tramways Limited)
- City of Birmingham Tramways (via the City of Birmingham Tramways Company) - until 1912
- Dudley, Stourbridge and District Electric Tramways (via the Dudley, Stourbridge and District Electric Traction Company)
- Kidderminster and Stourport Electric Tramway (via Kidderminster and District Electric Light and Traction Company) - from October 1915
- Kinver Light Railway (owned by the DS&DETCo)
- South Staffordshire Tramways (primarily via the South Staffordshire Tramways [Lessee] Company)
- Wolverhampton District Electric Tramways (via Wolverhampton District Electric Tramways Limited)
The B&MTJC worked in partnership with many local authorities, some of which owned the tramway lines within their municipal boundaries, but leased them to one of the B&MTJC's constituent tramway companies. Many of these authorities harboured transport ambitions of their own, which were ultimately to be the downfall of the B&MTJC's network, the last of its services being taken over by Walsall Corporation in 1930.