Once the remaining cars had been broken up, work was started by the Permanent Way Department of the re-instating of the highway. All wires were removed from the street poles by late 1949 and most of the point work and crossings had also been uplifted, these were offered for sale and Sunderland Corporation Transport purchased a substantial quantity.

In November Mr Potts issued a report stating that the cost of the re-instatement of the roadway on the Darwen and Church sections would amount to £18,568.19s. 0d., which was to be borrowed from the Ministry of Transport funds as sanctioned in the Blackburn Corporation Act of 1929.

The very last Tramway Traffic Returns were issued in March 1950 and were as follows:

Intack & Darwen sections:
Miles run..................................113,806
Passengers carried................2,268,216
Revenue.......................311,915.13s. 1d.
Receipts per car Mile................25.13d.

Many tramway items were now obsolete at the depot and these were put up for sale, all other items were ‘written off’, this amounted to £4,884. 0s. 0d.

In April 1950 it was reported that sixty tramway standards were still erected, but not in use, and that these should be removed as soon as possible, and in addition twenty standards on the Preston New Road were, at that time, being used by the Street lighting Department. The last three standards disappeared from the public highway in 1986/87 when a new shopping complex development on High Street was constructed. There is, at the time of writing, one standard left, this being in the far corner of Intack yard, some span wires still hang mournfully from it, and it’s finial is still in place. [1]

In June 1950 the tram shelter at Brownhill was removed and offered for sale to the Parks Department, though there are no records to say this took place. Four further loans were sanctioned for £44,006, £78,563, £9,362 and £16,938 under the 1929 Act, for the re-instatement of the roads for payment to the Highways and General Drainage Department. Much of the track work in Blackburn was still intact, and visible, up until the mid-1950’s, and even then very little was actually taken up, the majority was simply covered with tarmac. Indeed, if one was to dig deep enough today tramtrack would soon be discovered. It is a pleasant sight when present day road works are in progress to catch a glimpse of track while the tarmac is up. Apart from sections in Intack depot, the only place left in Blackburn where one can see exposed track today is Simmons Street depot yard. [2]

After the buses had taken over the routes the transport system in Blackburn was extended to many other parts of the town, through running with both Darwen and Accrington was resumed. However, the cost of abandonment, and the purchase of many new buses was a heavy burden on the finances of the department, a state of affairs similar to that which effected the early years of tramway operations. By 1953 fares had increased tremendously, as indeed had happened in many other towns upon the abandonment of their tramway systems, though in the late 1950’s this could partially be attributed to the ‘Suez Crisis’ and the subsequent increase in oil prices. Many local residents were up in arms at these increases and there was many a cry of “bring back the trams”. One local gentleman wrote that:

“Blackburn’s trams and tracks were rated amongst the best in the Country and you could read a newspaper quite comfortably when riding on them. They contributed handsomely to the rates, and since the buses took over they have had a job to pay their way, in spite of ever increasing fares.

“As for noise, it is a common sight on old tram routes to see two and three buses running in convoy, doing the work that one tram could handle. The combined noise is at least equal to a tram running on Pre-war tracks and with the added discomfort of an atmosphere with poisonous exhaust fumes. As for being slow, I think I am right in saying that the trams were allowed one hour for the Cherry Tree - Preston Road round trip. The modern bus is allowed 56 minutes with, and here is the rub, exactly half the number of stopping places.”

A Brief History of the Omnibus since the last tram
With the large influx of new buses to the Corporation during the late 1940’s, there was no neccessity to purchase any new vehicles for several years, and so a policy of withdrawing the older buses was begun, and plans for the long term replacement of the current fleet was put into operation.

The last petrol engined vehicles in the fleet were withdrawn in late 1949, these being the Leyland Titan TD1’s No.’s 14-18, also withdrawn in 1949 were the two English Electric bodies Leyland TD4c’s No.’ 35 & 36, these were sold to M.E.Blair of Moss Side, Manchester in March 1950.

1951 saw the peak of the number of passengers carried, annual returns showing that during this year 43 million passengers travelled on the buses.

The re-construction of the Boulevard began in July 1954, the old tram shelters were taken down and the tracks were asphalted over. During this work, as a temporary measure, several services were terminated at Salford, Bridge Street and the Adelphi Hotel.

The General Manager, Mr Potts, retired in 1955 and he was succeeded by Mr Harrison, who had been Rolling Stock Superintendent with the trams.

Between July 1954 and May 1956 eight of the Wartime Utility bodied Guy Arab vehicles, No.’s 59-66 were re-bodied at East Lancashire Coach Builders. On returning to service they received a new lighter shade of green livery and also for the first time, lining out was omitted from the livery, a practice that was to be established on all subsequent new vehicles and re-paints of older buses.

The ‘Suez Crisis’ of late 1956 had a tremendous financial effect on the undertaking and in particular the services, as was the case with all transport operates. In Blackburn a 5% fuel saving was accomplished by the reduction of off-peak services. A 5% fuel tax of 1s. per gallon meant that fares had to be increased as of January 1st, 1957. A review of all fares was considered in the Spring of the same year involved further increases and the last link with the trams was severed with the withdrawal of the ‘return fare’.

Between January and April 1957 ten new buses entered service and were double-deck Guy Arab 6LW Chassid vehicles with East Lancashire Coach Builders 58-seat bodies, similar to the style of the re-builds, and were allocated No.’ 140-149. The introduction of these buses enabled the withdrawal of five of the Leyland TD5’s No.’s 46, 47, 50, 51 and 53. Eight further Guy Arab’s arrived in 1958, No.’s 150-157, and the rest of the No.’s 40-53 batch of TD5’s were withdrawn.

No more vehicles arrived until 1962, when the first 8ft. wide buses entered service. These were twelve Guy Arab 6LW’s, numbered 158-169, with East Lancashire 63-seat double-deck bodies. Over the next 2 years twenty-four similar bodied Leyland PD2A vehicles arrived, No.’s 21-32 in 1962/63 and No.’s 33-44 in 1964. Half of these buses were fitted with fluorescent lighting giving a much-improved interior lighting. These purchases allowed for the complete withdrawal of No.’s 59-66, 67-72 and 73-84.

In 1964 all the fare stages were re-adjusted and new ‘simplified fare scales’ were put into operation, amongst these alterations was the abandonment of the ½d. graduation.
At this time the oldest buses in the fleet were the Leyland PS1 single-deck vehicles No.’s 1-4 of 1947 vintage and it was decided these should be the next vehicles to be replaced. This was achieved in 1967 with the introduction of eight Leyland PSCU1/13 Tiger Cub single-deck buses with front entrance East Lancashire 45-seat bodies, equipped for One-Man-Operation, and were the first buses with under-floor engines. They all carried a new style livery whereby the ivory became the predominant colour. One-Man-Operation began on March 6th, 1967 on the Revidge route followed in January 1968 on the Queen’s Park service.

July 1968 saw the first introduction of the rear-engined Leyland PDR1/! ‘Atlantean’ when No.’s 45-54 arrived with 76-seat East Lancashire bodies again in the new livery.

Eight of the No.’s 85-94 batch of 1947 Leyland PD1A’s were withdrawn between 1968 and 1970 and to replace these vehicles twelve further Leyland PSCU1A/13 Tiger Cubs, No.’ 55-66 entered service in the middle of 1969. The last of the 1948 single-deck buses were withdrawn later that year. In June 1969 Mr Oak took over as General Manager from Mr Harrison.

A further eight Leyland PDR1/1 ‘Atlantean’ buses No.’s 73-80 entered service in 1971 and in 1972 no less than eighteen new vehicles were purchased No.’s 67-72, Seddon Pennine RU single-deck vehicles with East Lancashire 45-seat bodies and Leyland AN68 ‘Atlanteans’ No.’s 81-92 again with East Lancashire 76-seat double-deck bodies. Seddon single-deck No.69 was fitted with coach seats, reducing the capacity to forty-two and also a revised livery which was adopted by the 81-92 batch.

The last of the tramway replacement buses No.’s 120-139 Guy Arabs were withdrawn, though most had only been used as ‘extras’ for some time prior to this.

No more buses were ever purchased by Blackburn Corporation as the local Government re-organisation of 1974 saw the amalgamation of Blackburn and Darwen into the Borough of Blackburn, and a new era in public transport in Blackburn began.

[1] this pole was removed in February 2007

[2] The tramwork in Simmons Street was taken up or covered over with the construction of the CAPITA building in 2002

Bus History >