Jonathan Welch takes a look at the history of public transport in Aberdeen, the home of FirstGroup and previously Britain’s most northerly municipal tramway undertaking
On 26 August, First Aberdeen held an open day to celebrate 125 years of public transport in the city, services having begun in 1898 with predecessor Aberdeen Corporation Tramways (ACT), though more accurately it marked 125 years to the day since ACT took over the running of trams from Aberdeen District Tramways, which had been running horse trams since 1874.
Aberdeen District Tramways opened an initial two routes, running west from the city’s main thoroughfare, Union Street, to Queens Cross, and in broadly northerly directions via George Street and King Street, serving areas to the north of the city centre. All three axes still form vital parts of the city’s public transport network today, with services operated by First Aberdeen and Stagecoach; the latter took over the former Bluebird services.
For many years following a period of competition and consolidation, until very recently First had been the dominant city operator, whilst Stagecoach operated in and out on regional routes, retaining one cross-city route which competed almost directly with First.
125 years and more
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