Transport 

'They were sometimes known as the silent death they were so quick, if you didn't have your wits about you, they could 'ave yer' '

Michael Storey (b. 1934), on driving Brighton trolley buses.

Brighton had a strong tradition of employment in transport.  From 1848, carriages for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway were made at an engineering works near Boston Street.  Later, workshops for building locomotives were added.  By 1891, the works employed 2,651 people and was the largest single employer in the town.

As the town continued to expand, the need for public transport increased.  Jobs were created in a host of transport related activities. The creation of Brighton's tramway system in 1901 and the introduction of motor-buses, meant that drivers, conductors and engineers were required as well as labourers, track-layers and electricians.

		In 1939, a trolley bus system was introduced to replace the tramways.  However, 20 years later, rising costs meant that the service was abandoned.  Around the same time, the railway works were closed and the number of people in Brighton employed in transport dropped dramatically.
Model of a Brighton Corporation Tramways Class D tram car, made by Mr Alfred Charles Goddard, 1926-1929, HA104525

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