Greenock and Port Glasgow Tramways



Owner Greenock Police Board
Opened 7th July 1873 (horse) - Greenock to Rue-End Street line
Operator (lessee) Vale of Clyde Tramways Company
Opened 18th July 1873 (horse) - first section of the Gourock to Greenock line, owned by the Vale of Clyde Tramways Company
Operator Vale of Clyde Tramways Company
Opened 29th November 1889 (horse) - Greenock to Port Glasgow line, owned by the Greenock and Port Glasgow Tramways Company
Operator Greenock and Port Glasgow Tramways Company
Taken over (lease) 15th May 1893 - Greenock to Rue-End Street line
Operator (lessee) Greenock and Port Glasgow Tramways Company
Taken over (ownership) 1894 - Gourock to Greenock line, by the Govan Police Board
Operator (lessee) Greenock and Port Glasgow Tramways Company
Taken over 1899 - controlling interest in the Greenock and Port Glasgow Tramways Company acquired by the British Electric Traction Company Limited
Last horse service 7th November 1901
First electric service 7th November 1901
Ownership transferred 24th September 1913 (Scottish General Transport Company - a wholly owned subsidiary of BETCo)
Closed 15th July 1929
Length 7.42 miles
Gauge 4ft 7¾ins

Button description (horse era) Uniforms not worn

Button description (electric era) Wheel, magnet and electrical flashes
Materials known Brass; chrome; black horn
Button Line reference [113/16]

Comment The history of the Greenock and Port Glasgow Tramways is, for a fairly straightforward system, one of the most complex in the British Isles, with at one time, three owning entities (Greenock Police Board, the Vale of Clyde Tramways Company, and the Greenock and Port Glasgow Tramways Company) and two sections operated independently of each other (by the VoCTCo and the G&PGTCo), before everything eventually passed into the hands of the BETCoLtd, who subsequently electrified the line. During the horse tram era, no uniforms were worn, so marked buttons almost certainly never existed (see link). The BETCoLtd (owner from 1899) had a common approach to all its subsidiaries, so staff working the electric services (from 1901 onwards) would have worn the standard BET 'Magnet and Wheel' button.

The Scottish General Transport Company was expressly set up by BETCo to manage its tramway undertakings in Scotland, namely, the Greenock and Port Glasgow Tramways Company, the Airdrie and Coatbridge Tramways Company, and the Rothesay Tramways Company.

The VoCTCo also owned and operated a line on Govan (see link), though this was geographically unconnected to its Gourock to Greenock line.