The Leaving of Liverpool

Few books have been written laying out in detail the run-down of a great British tram system. This is an attempt to do just that by bringing together all the known information by following, in diary form, the detailed decline of one of the finest city tramways in the country. Despite investing in hundreds of new trams and opening an extension as late as 1944, the City Council approved a complete conversion programme the following year. What led to this sudden change of policy? How far were powerful, local politicians involved? Were the figures produced by The Transport Department an entirely accurate representation of the post-war alternatives? Did they include the cost of track removal and road resurfacing? Had trams been built, and extensions laid, to the highest standard? Was there a breakdown in communication between different areas of the Transport Department? Did wartime neglect and post-war shortages lead to the inevitable? Why was so much track re-laid after the war only to last a few years? Could/should any part of network, with its miles of segregated 'grass tracks' have been retained?