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History of trams

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Electrification of tramways became a point of interest in 1853, with the introduction of electrified rails by Werner von Seimens at the Berlin Trade Fair in 1879, held in the namesake city; it was first implemented into the Lichterfelde tramway in 1881. Trolley pole electrification, running off electrified overhead lines, was developed that same year by Frank J. Sprague, and the technology was first implemented in the Richmond, Virginia tramway network in late 1887, before rapidly becoming the standard for tramway electrification.

In the post-war decades after World War II, auto buses quickly grew in popularity, becoming the primary form of local public transit due to the ability to maneuver around obstacles, route flexibility, and less capital costs and infrastructure required. As a result, many cities began replacing tramways with bus routes, removing existing tram infrastructure in the process. At the same time, private car ownership quickly grew in popularity, as private vehicles became significantly more affordable with cars such as the Ford Model T, further contributing to lower tram ridership, and public transit ridership as a whole. Many governments began opting to shift funding towards newer highway and road infrastructure, serving the growing number of private vehicle traffic in cities and suburbs.

Interest in tramways began to re surge in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, becoming increasingly desired as a means of reducing traffic, reducing car dependency, and improving air quality and affordability. France and the Netherlands were among the first cities to begin reinvesting and modernizing their tramways, with the Nantes tramway and Grenoble tramway in France opening their tramways in 1985 and the Netherlands rapidly modernizing their existing networks.

Horsecars

The world's first passenger tram was the Swansea and Mumbles Railway, in Wales, United Kingdom. The Mumbles Railway Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1804, and the first horse-drawn, or horsecar, passenger tramway began operations in 1807. It later was developed to run on steam engines in 1877, and from 1929 to its closure in 1961 ran on electric motors powered by trolley poles and overhead lines.

The first streetcar in the United States, developed by John Stephenson, was the New York and Harlem Railroad's Fourth Avenue Line running along the Bowery and Fourth Avenue in New York City, New York, which began service in the year 1832. It was followed in 1835 by New Orleans, Louisiana's tramway, the oldest continuously operating streetcar system in the world.

The first tram in Continental Europe opened in France in 1839 between Montbrison and Montrond, operating in the streets within the town and on the roadside in the outer farmlands. Though it was permitted to run on steam engines, the system was entirely run with horsecars. In 1848, it was closed down following economic failure.

Santiago, Chile opened the first South American tramway on 10 June, 1858. The first trams in Australia opened in 1860 in Sydney, New South Wales, followed by Africa's first tram service started in Alexandria, Egypt on 8 January, 1863. The first trams in Asia opened in 1869 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Beginning in the late 19th century, horse cars were largely replaced by electric-powered trams. Several inventors and companies were involved in the transition. Werner von Siemens pioneered electric traction in the early 1880s in Berlin. In the US, Frank J. Sprague's groundbreaking work collecting power from overhead wires using trolleys kickstarted the transition. His spring-loaded trolley pole used a wheel to travel along the wire. In late 1887 and early 1888, using his trolley system, Sprague installed the first successful large electric street railway system in Richmond, Virginia. Within a year, the economy of electric power had replaced more costly horse cars in many cities. By 1889, 110 electric railways incorporating Sprague's equipment had been begun or planned on several continents.

Horses continued to be used for light shunting well into the 20th century. New York City had a regular horse car service on the Bleecker Street Line until its closure in 1917. Pittsburgh, had its Sarah Street line drawn by horses until 1923. The last regular mule-drawn cars in the US ran in Sulphur Rock, Arkansas, until 1926 and were commemorated by a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1983. The last mule tram service in Mexico City ended in 1932, and a mule tram in Celaya, Mexico, survived until 1954. The last horse-drawn tram to be withdrawn from public service in the UK took passengers from Fintona railway station to Fintona Junction one mile away on the main Omagh to Enniskillen railway in Northern Ireland. The tram made its last journey on 30 September 1957 when the Omagh to Enniskillen line closed. The van now lies at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.

Horse-drawn trams still operate on the 1876-built Douglas Bay Horse Tramway on the Isle of Man, and on the 1894-built Victor Harbor Horse Drawn Tram, in Adelaide, South Australia. New horse-drawn systems have been established at the Hokkaidō Museum in Japan and in Disneyland.

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