Double delights
Sir: Gavin Stamp's delightful essay on the revival of the tram in urban transport (Not motoring, 7 October) very neatly captures the pleasure of riding on the stately vehi- cles which were once so common a feature on the streets in British cities. He is, howev- er, mistaken, I think, to write off the dou- ble-decker. Apart from Blackpool, double- decker trams are still in regular use in Hong Kong, and a new up-to-date design is under development. (A Hong Kong-built double-decker tram operates on the heritage tramway at Birkenhead.) Furthermore, six new double-decker trams built in Japan arrived earlier this year for use on the tram- line from Alexandria to Ramleh: earlier dou- ble-decker trams on this system had used second-hand equipment taken from the Lon- don trams which Mr Stamp recalls. An open- top double-decker tram operates occasional- ly in Douglas in the Isle of Man. They bought it from South Shields many years ago, but as its use imposes a strain on the horse in stop- ping and starting, it operates a non-stop ser- vice round the bay.
Tom Shearer
Stamford Hall, Stoughton Drive, South Leicester
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