History
In 1862 the first horse tramway in New Zealand, between Nelson and the port, opened as part of the Dun Mountain Railway, built to export ore from the mine in the hills above Nelson. Other horse-drawn tram systems were built on the West Coast of the South Island, where a gold rush started in 1864.
Horse-drawn lines also opened in the main centres; Auckland and Devonport in 1886, Dunedin 1879, Christchurch 1880 and Dunedin 1879.
At Grahamstown (now Thames) in the North Island where gold had also been found, a steam tramway to Tararu was opened on 2 December 1871, but closed on 11 November 1874, due to 'not sufficient traffic'. Other steam systems were opened in Devonport, Wellington and Christchurch.
The first electric tram ran to Maori Hill, Dunedin in 1900, and the tram systems in the main centres were all electrified in the 1900s.
Dunedin also had several Cable Car lines to various suburbs and Wellington still has the Wellington Cable Car (actually a funicular) to Kelburn.
Most twentieth-century systems were electric with overhead wires, apart from the Takapuna (Auckland) steam tramway (1910–1927) and Gisborne, which had two battery-electric trams (1913–1929). The only system to be closed during this period was Napier, in 1931 after the Napier earthquake. Several long suburban lines were replaced by buses, e.g. Christchurch City to Richmond, Burwood and North Beach in 1934, and to Linwood in 1936.
During the 1950s and early 1960s all the tramway systems were replaced by buses or trolleybuses: Wanganui (1950), Invercargill (1952), Christchurch and New Plymouth (1954), Auckland and Dunedin (1956) and Wellington (1964). This followed a general international trend, especially in North American and British cities. The traditional tram systems of the period were perceived as a slow and outdated means of transport, characterised by inflexible routes and expensive infrastructure maintenance. In Wellington there was significant opposition to the closure of the last tramway system in New Zealand, and the final decision to disestablish the remaining lines followed on a public referendum in 1959.
Trolleybuses still operate in Wellington, but the other systems have closed: Christchurch (1956), New Plymouth (1967), Auckland (1980) and Dunedin (1982).
Read more about this topic: Trams In New Zealand
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