The history of trams, streetcars, or trolleys began in the early nineteenth century. It can be divided up into several discrete periods defined by the principal means of motive power used. See more

Another motive system for trams was the cable car, which was pulled along a fixed track by a moving steel cable. The power to move the cable … See more

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a number of systems in various parts of the world employed trams powered by gas, naphtha See more

In some places, other forms of power were used to power the tram.
Hastings and some other tramways, for example Stockholms Spårvägar in Sweden and some … See more

The Trieste–Opicina tramway in Trieste operates a hybrid funicular tramway system. Conventional electric trams are operated in street running and on reserved track for most of their route. However, on one steep segment of track, they are assisted by … See more

The world's first passenger tram was the Swansea and Mumbles Railway, in Wales, UK. The Mumbles Railway Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1804, and this first horse-drawn passenger tramway started operating in 1807. It was worked by steam … See more

The world's first experimental electric tramway was built by Ukrainian inventor Fyodor Pirotsky near St Petersburg, Russian Empire, in 1875. The first commercially successful electric tram line operated in Lichterfelde near Berlin, Germany, in 1881. … See more