In 1881 the Blackburn and Over Darwen Tramways Company opened the first Steam Tram system to be run in the United Kingdom. Darwen Corporation took over the running of the Tram system in Darwen and developed a new line joining Darwen Circus to Hoddlesden. There were even plans at one stage to take the line further and join up with Bolton but this came to nothing. In the end the trams lost out to the bus, and if it had not been for the Second World War the trams would have ended sooner than they did. The last tram ran in 1946 and Souvenir tickets were issued for the last ride.