This was in order to circumvent limitations imposed by Russian authorities, which prevented the construction of a railway bridge for strategic reasons.

In 1927, a privately owned light rail line called EKD (today Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa) was built, connecting several neighboring towns with the center of Warsaw using electric motor coaches similar to trams, only faster, larger and more massive, with frequent stops and tracks running along the streets in city; however the system was incompatible with the Warsaw trams as it used standard gauge tracks while the city network still used Russian gauge left from Russian times.

Preliminary boring started, but the work was suspended because of the Great Depression; the idea resurfaced in 1938, but was again buried with the outbreak of World War II.

The tram system remained operational, although gradually deteriorating, during most of the Nazi occupation until the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, after which all the infrastructure was systematically destroyed.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the network was extended to newly built districts of soviet style panel houses and industrial plants and newer trams based on the design of Presidents' Conference Committee were introduced.

In the 1960s, however, a political decision was made to increase the dependency on oil imported from Russia, while Polish coal was to be exported to Western Europe in exchange for hard currency; as a result, newly developed districts were connected with the city center by buses rather than trams, and some of the existing tracks were closed.

However, since 2005, the situation has been changing with the purchase of new rolling stock, modernization of key tram lines, and deployment of a passenger information system.

In August 2008, a tender for delivery of 186 low-floor, air-conditioned trams was launched, allowing for a dramatic overhaul of the look of the tramway system.

The route underwent further expansion with the latest 1 km (0.6 mi) long segment finished in September 2021 after multiple delays.