Trams in New Zealand

A tram running parallel with a public road opened in Western Springs, Auckland, in 1980 and a central city loop line in Christchurch in 1995.

[2] The legislation enabling the Dun Mountain Railways required a passenger service to be provided, which commenced from 7 May 1862 using a horse-drawn carriage, known as the "City Bus.

Horse-drawn tramways could be found in Westport, Charleston, Brighton, Greymouth, Paroa, Marsden, Kumara, Arahura, Hokitika, Kaniere and Ross.

[4] 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,[5] but closed on 11 November 1874, due to there being "not sufficient traffic".

[9] Most twentieth-century systems were electric with overhead wires, apart from the Takapuna (Auckland) steam tramway (1910–1927)[10] and Gisborne, which had two battery-electric trams (1913–1929).

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).

The traditional tram systems of the period were perceived as a slow and outdated means of transport, characterized by inflexible routes and expensive infrastructure maintenance.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.

With the blessing of the various borough councils that presided over the Auckland isthmus, The Auckland Electric Tramway Co. Ltd built the initial tram systems in two years and the official opening was held 17 November 1902, but public service was delayed a week because three of the motormen, from Sydney, Australia, had been drowned in the SS Elingamite shipwreck near Three Kings Islands on 9 November 1902.

[13][14][15] Initially the trams were geared for a maximum speed of 18 mph (29 km/h), so took an average of 40 minutes for the longest route, the 7.5 mi (12.1 km) between Queen St and Onehunga.

The MOTAT line was extended in 2006–07 to reach a second site of the museum,[23] and the former Auckland Regional Council promoted the creation of an Auckland waterfront tram line, originally with MOTAT vehicles,[24] but will initially operate former Melbourne trams leased from Bendigo Tramways Company Limited.

The Dockline Tramway was closed a number of times for the gentrification of streets around Wynyard Quarter which have involved re-levelling the roads.

[22] The Tramway was suspended indefinitely on 5 August 2018 due to Panuku selling an area that included part of its tracks to a developer, but was given a reprieve on 22 November 2018 with Auckland Councillors voting to reinstate the full original loop and have the tram running for the 2021 America's Cup, then review its future.

[27] In November of 2021 the Auckland Council voted thirteen to six in favour of removing the tramway and the land the sheds now sit on have been sold.

The tracks remained in place until December 1894 when the Devonport Borough Council removed them and widened Beach Road (now King Edward Parade).

[30] Auckland Electric Tramways initially investigated the request, later declining it on the basis of a sparse population then on the North Shore.

There are plans to extend the route in 2014 to include the full pre-earthquake circuit and the extension through the Re:Start Mall and High Street which was nearly complete when the February 2011 earthquake struck.

The city loop is currently operating on a limited circuit after being reopened 27 November 2013 following the Christchurch earthquake of 2011 which halted services while the CBD was closed off.

[24] This line was extended in 2014 with the reopening of the full pre-earthquake circuit and the opening of the nearly complete extension through the Re:Start mall and High Street.

In Dunedin electric trams operated on several routes from 23 October 1900 (Maori Hill) and 24 December 1903 (municipal service, to Normanby & Gardens) to 29 March 1956, and were replaced by trolleybuses and buses.

The Tramways Whanganui Trust has united the body onto a former Brussels Brill 21e type four-wheel truck, and plans to renovate Wanganui tram No.8, New Plymouth Birney No.8 and Brisbane No.133.

120m of tramline has been laid alongside the Whanganui river between the new tram shed towards the berth of the PS Waimarie and runs regularly for the public.

The main towns, Greymouth, Westport, Hokitika and Ross, and smaller settlements like Brighton, Charleston, Kamiere and Kumara had wooden tramways.

Publican John Behan of Charleston, now a ghost town, petitioned the Canterbury Provincial Council in 1870 for compensation after the rerouting of a wooden tramway along a branch road removed most of his stalwart drinkers.

The 'bush tram' from Greymouth to Kumara took three hours, and during the trip passengers had to cross the Taramakau River in a cage or 'flying fox' riding on two wires.

A distinctive feature of many Australasian trams was the drop-centre, a lowered central section between bogies (wheel-sets), to make passenger access easier by reducing the number of steps required to get inside of the vehicle.

Hong Kong or toast rack (toastrack) cars were open, with the roof supported by a row of stanchions on each side.

The Engineers of the Auckland Electric Tramway Company, BET Company designed their own tramcars, earlier models were built by Brush Engineering in Loughborough, construction post the Great War was exclusively by Auckland Coach Builders and increasingly the Tramway's own workshops at Royal Oak on Manukau Road.

Dalliance with riveted steel construction with the Art Deco "Semi-steel" N type in the 1920s which included butterfly [double set] destinations set in a V shape which could be read even when trams were parked bumper to bumper, double set saloon doorways a return to traditional wooden construction with the 1929/30 Big Cars with minor improvements to seating design and finally the 1930s Streamliner design, which had curving pillar frames, 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) over the chassis and 8 ft (2.44 m) at the window sill level and reducing again to the roofline.