Dover: Lock and Key of the Kingdom

The main line opened on 6th September 1897, with the Mayor  driving the first tram from the Town Hall to Buckland and back,  and the Maxton branch opened in December of the same year.  Dover's new electric tramway was the first in South-East  England and only the second in Britain. The initial cost of the  system was £27,000 and the trams proved very popular with  the population. By the end of the first year 1,794,905 passengers had been  carried, rising to 2,710,420 in the year 1900-1901. The 1901  Census gave Dover's population as 41,794, which meant, on  average, every man, woman and child in the Borough made 65  journeys a year. Four new tram cars were delivered in 1898,  allowing a five minute interval service on the main line and a  10 minute interval service to Maxton. In 1898 the main line was shortened, the section from  Admiralty Pier to Strond Street being abandoned due to delays  caused by trams having to wait at the Crosswall level crossing  over the railway. In 1902 another tram of more modern design  was delivered. In May 1904 the Corporation acquired the Dover  Electricity Company and no longer had to pay a private  company for the power used by the trams. In 1905 the line was extended from Buckland to River and four  new trams purchased for this service. In 1911 Sunday services  were introduced, and three more trams were purchased in  1912.