Rail grail

I remember these trams. Because of the narrow streets, they ran on a narrow gauge of 3ft 6in.

Despite this, in roads such as North Road and New England Road, the tracks had to be interlaced, preventing the trams passing each other on these sections.

Mr Gee says, "You, too, had trams and trolleybuses. Where are they now?"

The trams were replaced in stages in 1939, mainly by trolleybuses, because of the increasing traffic.

The decision to replace the trolleybuses in 1961 was largely political and was one of the worst made by the old county borough.

Following the nationalisation of Brighton Corporation's electricity department in 1948, the cost of electricity had risen and there was a reluctance to replace the 44 trolleybuses from 1939 by new vehicles.

At that time, motor buses seemed more attractive and there was not the concern then that there is now about the burning of fossil fuels.

However, the final nail in the coffin of the trolleybuses was the decision to form the Brighton Area Transport Services, bringing in Southdown Motor Services (which had no trolleybuses) to join Brighton Corporation Transport and Brighton, Hove and District Omnibus Co, both of which had.

Mr Gee suggests using old local railway lines. Unfortunately, there are few of these. It would be impossible to reopen the Kemp Town branch because an industrial estate had been built on the site of Kemp Town station in Coalbrook Road, the tunnel is used for storage and the Lewes Road viaduct has been demolished.

The formation of the line to the lower goods yard is still intact but would be of little use. The track of the Dyke railway has largely been built over.

Nevertheless, there is a need to move large numbers of people rapidly in and out of the city. This would require a light railway which, in parts of the city, would have to run underground.

-Peter E H Bailey, Beaconsfield Villas, Brighton