As the Telegraph & Argus reported last week, a significant stretch of tracks has been unearthed on Bridge Street.
Silsden resident Richard Hughes, who was in Bradford city centre for a meeting this week, said: “They’ve been digging up the city centre and they’ve uncovered some old tram lines by Centenary Square.
“To be honest, it’s surprised me that they’re still there.
“Rather than taking them up, it looks like they had tarmacked over them in the past.
“How many years has it been since the trams stopped running?
The decline of the tram system began in the late 1920s and much of it had closed by 1939, and the remainder was to be abandoned in the following years, with the last Bradford tramcar returning to Bankfoot depot for the final time on May 6, 1950.
Mr Hughes said: “I was too young to remember them myself, I’m 54, but I remember hearing about the trams from my family.
Talking about the appearance of the tram tracks today, Mr Hughes said: “You could see the track, the sleepers and even part of the points.
“I never thought I’d see them in situ. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
“As they’re now exposed, are they going to rip them out?
“They are definitely a part of Bradford’s history.
“My parents lived in the Bradford area from the 1930s to the mid-1950s and my grandma lived in Shipley virtually all of her life, so they would have used them.
“A lot of people that had used the trams will have missed them when they left.”
Mr Hughes also spoke about how the old electric trams would compare to the modern-day electric bus.
“Trams were essentially a very large electric bus, so we used to have electric transport in the city centre.
“Their environmental impact was not appreciated in the drive to get rid of the old.”
A little section of track from Bradford’s former tramway surfaced as part of the continuing roadworks project in the city center, as the T&A reported in April.
The rails were visible close to the intersection of Tyrrel Street and Bridge Street, where Bridge Street became Sunbridge Road. Nearby, just outside the Rimmington Pharmacy, a lengthier stretch of the long-forgotten tracks was discovered last week.
Regarding the abandoned tram lines, the T&A got in touch with Bradford Council to find out about their future intentions. The Council had not responded as we went to press.
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