GATHERING dust in a dark warehouse by the docks, a piece of Southampton history sits hidden. Until 1948, Tram 11 was an everyday part of life in Southampton.

Passing through Bargate, the double-decker tram was packed with dock workers, schoolchildren and mothers out shopping.

Now, under early plans unveiled by Southampton City Council today, Tram 11 could be about to make a dramatic return to the city’s streets.

The 76-year-old double-decker tram – which passed through Bargate almost everyday for 26 years – would be restored to its former glory as part of a major new tourist attraction.

The council’s leisure boss has teamed up with engineering experts at the University of Southampton to see if existing tracks could be brought back into operation and new lines laid between the Old Town and the waterfront.

Councillor John Hannides, Cabinet member for leisure, heritage and culture, said the “heritage tramway” attraction would be a great addition to the city’s offering to visitors.

The system would primarily be used by tourists, unlike the heavily used commuter trams in Croydon, Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield.

The world’s most famous vintage tram system operates in San Francisco. Reopened in 1984 after a multi-million dollar revamp, passengers are charged $5 for a ride on one of the 39 cable-cars.

Elsewhere in the UK, heritage tramways run in East Devon’s Axe Valley, while a vintage tram system in Birkenhead, Merseyside, links the Mersey Ferry with the Wirral Transport Museum.

Cllr Hannides stressed that no public money had yet been committed to the scheme, but it was an ambition of the Conservative-controlled council to see trams once again run along the city’s streets.

Cllr Hannides said: “We are taking this one step at a time and the first step needs to be a feasibility study. Once we know what the threats are and the opportunities may be, it will give us the information we need to decide how to take it forward.

“These type of projects can be very expensive, which is why we are focusing our ambition on having a heritage tramway, rather than it being part of the city’s transport infrastructure.”

Electric trams were a familiar sight in Southampton for exactly 70 years, from 1879 to 1949, and were as much a part of the city scene as the huge ships sailing up and down the Solent.

The 32-mile route covered most of the city, until the tracks were ripped up and trams replaced by the more versatile bus.

Final year and masters engineering students will take on the project and will report back to the council with their findings in spring 2010.

The students will investigate the cost of the project and whether existing tracks along the waterfront could be incorporated.

Dr Nick Hounsell, from the University of Southampton Transport Research Group, said about five students would begin work on the project over the next academic year.

The Old Town tram was one of a number of proposals included in a 30-page report, which last year set out Southampton’s ambition of becoming a serious candidate for a European Capital of Culture title from 2020.

However, previous attempts to give the city a “wow factor” have failed.

In recent years, plans to fire green lasers out of the Civic Centre, redevelop the Royal Pier into a premier waterfront attraction and build a bronze replica Spitfire on the De Vere roundabout have all vanished without a trace.

Cllr Hannides said while the heritage tramway was a long way from becoming reality, he was not afraid to be ambitious.

“Trams in their own right are iconic and they have dear place in the history of the city. This will be one way of getting more people down to the Old Town and adding to the offering,” he said.

THE AGE OF THE TRAM

SOUTHAMPTON’S tram era began on May 5, 1879, when horse cars were introduced to cater for the expanding population in the new suburbs.

Services began with single deck cars running from the Floating Bridge to The Avenue via Canute Road, Oxford Street, High Street and Above Bar.

The first section to be electrified, Junction to Shirley, opened on January 22, 1900, with 20 electric open-top knifeboard cars.

Due to the existing upper deck seating, these trams were unable to run under the Bargate but by 1923, PJ Baker had designed a double-deck tram with a curved roof with low headroom and a special small-wheeled low truck.

Tram 11 was the third in a batch of five designed to pass under the Bargate.

A gradual closure of the system began in 1935 but with the introduction of buses in 1949, Southampton’s 50 electric trams were scrapped.

Tram 11 was partly cannibalised for spares, before the body was sold to John Corbett of Cheriton who used it as a playhouse for his children.

Eventually it was donated to the city council, who, with the help of volunteers, restored it to its former glory.

Source: Tram 57 Project and Southampton City Council