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On the corner of Albany and Great King Street, just by the Captain Cook Tavern, you can see traces of a bygone era etched into the roadway. These old tram tracks were part of a network that carried people to school, work, or play for nearly eighty years.

The origins of Dunedin's trams

Dunedin's nineteenth century prosperity, due to the Otago gold boom, led to rapid population growth and an efficient public transport system soon became necessary.

With these factors in mind, the Dunedin City Corporation Public Works Committee called for horse and steam tram tenders in December 1875. That tender was awarded to Mr David Proudfoot with the first full tram service, between Castle and Dundas Streets, beginning four years later.

Dunedin's first tram services were operated by a number of companies, including the Kaikorai Tram Company and the Dunedin and Suburbs Tram Company.

One of the greatest tram systems

By the mid-1880s the city was covered by an extensive tram network. Trams ran all the way from The Gardens in North Dunedin to St Clair in South Dunedin.

Dunedin even boasted two tramway world records:

• The city claimed to have more tramlines, in proportion to population, of any city in the world, with seven miles of single track and 8.5 miles of double-sided track.
• Mornington had the steepest recorded tramline in the world. The gradient, at the highest point of the track, was measured at 1 in 3.75.

The cable car tram arrives

With increased electrification and Dunedin's steep hill suburbs, the next development was the arrival of cable cars, which followed a network of overhead electric wires.

The first cable car operated from the corner of Rattray and Maclaggan Streets to a terminus within the town belt. Soon they went into service throughout Dunedin.

The heyday of the tram came during the 1910s and 1920s. In Dunedin, tram usage was high at this time partly due to the fact the city had the country's lowest fares. The city could also claim to have the longest tramlines of any New Zealand city.

Motor vehicles signal end for trams 

The glory years of the tram were coming to an end. With private car ownership and motorised buses on the increase, trams became less popular. As a result, the curtain began to come down on the tram system beginning with the closure of the Opoho service in 1950.

Throughout the 1950s, one tram service after another was closed until on 2 March 1957, the last tram wound its way along the Mornington line. With it went eighty years of Dunedin tram history.