Metropolitan Electric Tramways

Metropolitan Electric Tramways Limited operated electric tram services in suburban areas of Middlesex and Hertfordshire from 1904 to 1933, when its services passed to the London Passenger Transport Board.

The company originated in 1894 as the Metropolitan Tramways and Omnibus Company Limited. The company hoped to construct horse tramways in the northern suburbs of London. The proposed tramways were not built, but an agreement was entered into with Middlesex County Council to operate the tramway network it was constructing under the Light Railways Act 1896. The company was acquired by British Electric Traction (BET) in 1901, and its name changed to Metropolitan Electric Tramways Ltd. (MET).

The first section of line was opened on 22 July 1904, with services from Finsbury Park to Manor House (where a connection with the London County Council Tramways was made) and Wood Green. On 3 December a separate section from Cricklewood to Edgware via Hendon opened.

The network was rapidly expanded between 1905 and 1911, MET having gained powers to build its own lines as well as operating those constructed by the county council, and by the acquisition and electrification of the North Metropolitan Tramways Company's steam-operated line from Wood Green to Ponders End.

On 1 January 1913, MET became a subsidiary of the London and Suburban Traction Company (LSTC), jointly owned by BET and the Underground Group. LSTC also owned the two other company-operated tramways in London, London United Tramways (LUT) and South Metropolitan Electric Tramways (Southmet).

When MET was taken over by the London Passenger Transport Board on 1 July 1933, it was operating 53.51 miles (86.12 km) of route. The company owned 9.38 miles (15.10 km) of track, with the remainder being leased from Middlesex or Hertfordshire County Councils. The company owned 316 tramcars.

The outer termini of the MET network were Acton (where it connected with the LUT system), Sudbury, Canons Park, Barnet, Enfield and Waltham Cross. Joint-running with the LUT and London County Council systems brought MET trams into Central and West London.

Sources

• Day, John R. (1979). London's Trams and Trolleybuses. London Transport. 
• Hibbs, John (1979). The History of British Bus Services (Second ed.). Newton Abbot. 
• Smeeton, C.S. (1984). The Metropolitan Electric Tramways, Vol.1 - Origins to 1920. The Light Rail Transit Association. 
• Smeeton, C.S. (1986). The Metropolitan Electric Tramways, Vol.2 - 1921 to 1933. The Light Rail Transit Association.