FROM THE ARCHIVES:Dublin's horse-drawn trams were carrying some 10 million passengers a year at an average fare of 1.6 pence in the mid-1890s as the directors of the Dublin United Tramway Company made the case for switching to electric trams at their annual meeting and anticipated the objections that would face the project. –
JOE JOYCE
THE CHAIRMAN, Dr Carte said that a deputation representing the company had visited various places on the Continent with the object of gaining information as to the working of electric tramways. [...]
As a result of all their observation, they were convinced that the electric system was the better and cheaper one, and he believed they should adopt it in Dublin. (Applause.)
They did not propose to adopt it too rashly. In the first instance they would try it on the Clontarf line. If it proved a success they would then extend it to the other lines. The system must prove very convenient to the public.
Instead of having horses as now, they would run their cars either in connection with posts , or with the permission of the people, in connection with ornamental brackets, which would be attached to the houses. The change would then be advantageous, viewed in the light of the absence of their horses from the street; the gain thus to be derived from a sanitary point of view; and the reduction in the amount of cleansing and sweeping on the streets.
The thoroughfares would not be much disturbed by the overhead system, and therefore they hoped and trusted that the Corporation would place no obstacle in their way. [...]
Mr Wm. [William Martin] Murphy seconded the motion. He said when he left Dublin with the other members of the company he was incredulous as to the adoption of electric trams, but he had returned home convinced that the days of horses as a motive power for trams had gone, and that the days of electricity for this purpose had come to stay.
By the use of electricity the time of a journey was reduced, as the cars run by its instrumentality could go at a much quicker rate on suburban roads. The public were, as a result, greatly convenienced. It was also possible when there was great traffic to put a trailing or second car on to the electric tram, so that people were not delayed.
Mr. John R. Wigham said he thoroughly agreed with what had fallen from both the chairman and Mr. Murphy. His experience, like theirs, had on the whole impressed him favourably with the working of the tramways in Continental towns.
The managers of these electric systems had spoken enthusiastically as to the money that could be saved by using mechanical rather than horse power. In the places they had visited the overhead system was used almost universally. Some people might think that these wires that crossed the thoroughfares might look unsightly, but so far from that being the fact he thought that they produced a cheerful business-like look.