The network is operated by a public transport corporation, the Städtische Verkehrsbetriebe Bern (SVB), which, since 2000, has marketed itself mainly under the trading name Bernmobil.

Services were operated by compressed air-powered vehicles, known colloquially as Lufttrams (air trams), according to the system developed by the Parisian engineer Louis Mékarski.

[1] A coalition of political and economic interests in various neighbouring communities then vehemently campaigned for the construction of a steam-driven interurban tramway from Bern to Worb.

The BTG assisted with planning and cost calculations, and applied on behalf of the coalition for the required concession, which was issued by the EAV on 23 December 1896.

None of the pneumatically powered vehicles have been preserved, but the old Depot and a bus shelter at the Bärengraben continue to remind Bernese residents today of the Lufttram era.

Unexpectedly, damage to the chassis frame occurred on two of the motor tramcars used to haul the open trailers, which operated mostly on line I.

In 1913, the tramway sections in the Länggasse and to Brückfeld were converted into double track lines, in preparation for the Swiss National Exposition [de] that was to be held in Bern the following year.

In the summer of 1914, tram traffic in Bern came to be affected by global politics, when the Federal Council ordered the general mobilization of the army effective from 2 August 1914.

As World War I continued, the SSB was forced by inflationary increases in the price of coal imports to restrict its activities to the absolute minimum.

In the summer of 1918, the SSB helped out the Bern-Worb-Bahn on a number of Sundays, by lending tramcar combinations that were able to carry many day trippers despite the BWB's shortage of vehicles.

The sale of surplus spare parts to the Lucerne tramway network [de] brought in revenue of 700 Swiss francs.

With the commissioning of the branch line from the Effingerstrasse into Fischermätteli on 18 November 1923, the Bern tramway network reached a length of 18.2 km (11.3 mi).

Additionally, the Maximum motor tramcars were fitted with more powerful engines; the SSB thus hoped to extend their service life by 15 to 20 years.

Major renovation work carried out in 1930 in the Bahnhofplatz/Bubenbergplatz area changed not only the image of that part of the city, but also the line routes of the SSB.

The cantonal authorities rejected this application, on the grounds that it could not accept responsibility for a double track section in the Muristrasse, with its heavy motor vehicle traffic.

At the same time, the SSB began to scrap the two-axle trailers from 1905 and 1910 and re-use parts of their chassis in the construction of new vehicles in its own workshop.

These were the first Bernese tramcars with passenger flow optimisation [de]; the ticket inspector was allocated a reserved seat at the third door.

In the early summer of 1954, a traffic report by a Zürich consulting firm suggested the conversion of the entire Bernese tramway network to bus operation.

Meanwhile, during renovations of the track on the Kirchenfeld Bridge, buses were used frequently to operate a rail replacement bus service to the Ostring.

As a direct result of the construction of the new Schanzen bridge, the Länggasse – Hauptbahnhof section was converted to motor bus operation.

With the conversion of Line 1 to motor bus operation on 11 October 1965, the track length of the tram network was reduced to 13.55 km (8.42 mi).

In the same year, the conversion of a Standard tram to driver-only operation marked the commencement of self-service ticket control, which was otherwise phased in gradually between 1967 and 1973.

In August 1966, in view of the replacement of the old four-axle trams equipped with longitudinal benches, the SVB took delivery of a bi-articulated vehicle with four single axle bogies from SWS Schlieren on a trial basis.

On 4 September 1976, as part of the big "Bernfest" marking the completion of a total of 17 years of rebuilding work at the station, the newly designed Bubenbergplatz was inaugurated.

At the same time, the SVB presented to the public Switzerland's first dining car tram, developed from a motor tramcar with longitudinal seating and an accompanying trailer.

Due to the unexpectedly high passenger volume caused by the introduction of the "Bäreabi"[jargon] in 1984, the mid-1980s was marred by an acute shortage of vehicles.

To allow operation on the eastern part, a provisional balloon loop was created at Helvetiaplatz and ran from there to Ostring and Saali.

In 1990 twelve low-floor articulated tram trains entered service, and this made it possible to withdraw the old Zürich tramcars.

Due to the bus replacement operations during the renovation of the Kornhaus Bridge [de] additional buses from Baden-Wettingen and Lucerne also helped out.

At the end of the 1990s, a network optimization study suggested that the existing motorbus and trolleybus to Bümpliz, Bethlehem, Ostermundigen and Wyler be converted to tram operation by 2020.