Municipal Trams

INTRODUCTION

The various stages of development of tramways as a means of urban transport all relied on tram rails laid in a roadway, and their introduction particularly in a young country like New Zealand, stemmed from the poor condition of the roads. Suddenly you could travel some quite long distances and know when you would arrive at you destination, and more likely than not, you would still be in tidy attire. While Steam Trams were first to be introduced (in Wellington and Dunedin before 1880 already) they were never popular due to their noise and the dirty environment they created. in each case steam was replaced by horses and this remained the primary motive power in all the flatter routes of those urban centres that had tramways till 1900. Dunedin was an exception though due to its many hills and cable trams were introduced there from 1881 onwards.

Once electricity became available (1900 in Dunedin) electric trams were quick to replace the horse drawn models with electric ones. This was also the point in time when the Councils decided to follow overseas practices and develop the tramway systems themselves.