The first plans to create a tram system in Irkutsk appeared at the end of the 19th century, but initial plans to build a horsecar network were rejected by city authorities as too expensive and unreliable.

According to the initial calculations of the designers, the tram system of the city was supposed to transport 44 million passengers annually (the average Irkutsk citizen makes 133 trips).

Three routes were planned: 1) from the station to the tram depot on Krasnoyarskaya ul., 9.5 km long, the planned completion time of construction is 1947; 2) to the Leninsky district through the Irkutny bridge, 9 km long, the planned time for the end of construction is 1948; 3) through r. Ushakovka to the street.

Barricade and st. Workers Headquarters, the planned completion time is 1950.

There were plans to lay a tram track on Circum-Baikal Street.