The Great Tramways Conspiracy : The covert campaign that killed off the British Tram

Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of London to witness the royal opening of the London County Council’s first electric trams in 1903. The people loved their trams. But trams had powerful enemies. In the 1920s the tram-haters became increasingly vociferous. Articles and letters in the press condemned trams as old-fashioned and called for them to be scrapped. The campaign employed a propaganda technique now known as astroturfing, which gives the impression of a grassroots movement while promoting vested interests. Commonly found on social media today, a century ago, hired hacks bombarded the letters columns of newspapers to get the message across. Bankrolling this campaign were the oil companies. In 1931 the Royal Commission on Transport, which was dominated by tram-hating motorists, called for trams to be scrapped. The tram industry was riven by internal dissent, and the motor industry courted the malcontents. In the face of this onslaught the tram industry capitulated and tramways closed.