Le Havre's tramway was built when the municipality sought to equip itself with a modern form of urban transport capable of multiplying the travel possibilities of its inhabitants, as many other French cities at the end of the 19th century did.

Following a favorable decision by the urban community in early 2007 to build an exclusive right-of-way public transport network, the tramway has been running again in Le Havre since 12 December 2012.

Founded in 1517 by Francis I of France, the city of Le Havre experienced strong economic and demographic growth from the Second French Empire onwards, when its walls were demolished.

Metallurgy, shipbuilding, weaving machine and horology movement factories created jobs and led to a rapid increase in the population of a conurbation numbering over 120,000 souls in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871.

In 1872, a Belgian businessman, M. de la Hault, acting on behalf of the Banque Française et Italienne, presented the municipality with a project for horse-drawn tramways, known as "American railroads",[notes 1] to replace the skeletal horsebus services in place since the July Monarchy.

[2] This time, the Porte Océane (commonly used name to designate Le Havre) councilors did not miss a beat and, after approval of the scope statements, awarded the establishment and operation of the new network to Belgian interests following the retrocession treaty of 3 November, 1873.

[4] This dynamism in urban transport led to an extension of the new mode of communication, and a second route between the town hall and the neighborhood Carreau de Sainte-Adresse via the Quatre Chemins and the Broche à Rôtir was gradually handed over to cars between 1 October, 1875, and 8 May, 1879.

[6] This equipment, which maintained an outstanding technical unity on the major French networks throughout the tramway's existence, was of simple, robust design, well adapted to local conditions.

The British were impressed, and drew inspiration from it to establish the tramways of Belfast and of the Isle of Man, a fitting return in a region where English influence on railways had always been very strong.

These creations set the stage for the construction of a second and third network, which were gradually built up in the years leading up to World War I. Alongside extensions of existing routes, such as the one from Place de l'Amiral Courbet to the Grands Bassins in 1897, or those from Sainte-Adresse to Ignauval and from Les Abattoirs to Petite Eure in 1899,[8] new lines were regularly opened to the public.

[16] This endorsed the fare increases introduced in 1920, reduced the daily number of round trips on each line, and freed up resources for the overhaul and renovation (vestibulage) of the rolling stock.

[12] The 1920s also saw the partial or total closure of certain lines whose mileage performance did not justify refurbishment and modernization: Pont V – Abattoirs, Boulevard de Graville – Gambetta, Rond-Point – Notre-Dame, Gare Jetée, Jetée – Octroi de la Hève[17] Despite the deficit, which successive fare increases failed to offset, a final project to extend the network towards the Mare au Clerc district, north of the Sainte-Marie cemetery, was proposed to the local authorities in 1928.

[17] These, along with the trolleybuses introduced in 1938, remained confined to secondary lines until World War II, and did not constitute serious competition for the rail network, which continued to modernize its engines.

[17] However, frequent bombings (Le Havre suffered more than 120 between 1941 and 1944) greatly disrupted tramway operations and caused considerable destruction to equipment, as in April 1942, when the Eure depot was badly hit.

[17] But these were mere trifles compared with the terrible shelling carried out by Allied aircraft on 5 and 6 September, 1944, which turned the center of Le Havre into a heap of ruins[notes 8] and destroyed almost all the C.G.F.T's facilities.

On 4 June, 1951,[23] amidst complete indifference,[notes 9] the last streetcar returned to the depot after a final run, putting an end to seventy-seven years of loyal service.

The rail link to the small industrial town of Montivilliers, located in the Lézarde valley, had long mobilized the energies of many people in Le Havre, giving rise to discussions and projects.

[29] Declared to be in the public interest on 22 August, 1895, the 745 m-long line (including 291 m in tunnel), with a 70 m difference in height, provided a link between the bottom of Rue Clovis and the Sainte-Marie cemetery.

[31] Put into service on All Saints' Day 1895,[31] the route met with some initial success, but the Compagnie du Tramway Funiculaire de la Côte Sainte-Marie was soon to be disappointed.

A few years later, in 1886, Mr. Lévêque, a Parisian engineer, presented a more serious argument for a funicular railway between Place Thiers and Rue de la Côte (Félix Faure).

Declared to be in the public interest on 23 April, 1889,[36] and opened for service on 17 August, 1890,[36] this 343 m-long railroad, 145 m of which was viaduct track, was served by 2 cars with 48 seats, making the journey in 3 minutes.

[39] New two -wheelset cars with pneumatic tires running in U-shaped[36] sections were put back into service, much to the delight of schoolchildren, the main users of this mode of transport, so rare in the north of the country.

It would start at the beach, cross the city center and climb to the upper town via a new dedicated tunnel (approximately 680 meters long), before splitting into two branches (Mont-Gaillard on one side, Caucriauville on the other).