The system consists of three tram routes connecting Utrecht Centraal railway station with the residential areas of Lombok and Kanaleneiland and the suburbs Nieuwegein and IJsselstein to the southwest of the station, and with the Uithof district and Utrecht University to the southeast.

BRU does long- and short-term planning for public transport in the region working closely with municipalities and travellers' organisations.

Trams operate in dedicated centre-of-road reservation between Jaarbeursplein and the Vasco da Gamalaan stops.

Between 1883 and 1929, steam and horse trams ran between Utrecht and the villages of Jutphaas and Vreeswijk, now part of Nieuwegein.

One branch ran between Moreelsepark (Utrecht city centre) to Nieuwegein-Zuid in the suburb of Nieuwegein as line 100.

[9] In September 2007, Alstom Transport arranged the loan to Utrecht of a low-floor Citadis tram from Mulhouse.

On 9 September, a car-free Sunday in Utrecht, the Mulhouse tram was put on public display.

It ran between Utrecht und Nieuwegein Zuid during the morning and afternoon peak periods.

[20] On 14 December 2019, line 22 (dubbed Uithoflijn) opened from Utrecht Centraal to the Uithof district.

These measures were to allow greater physical distancing among passengers which include health workers employed at Utrecht Science Park.

[25] On 30 May 2020, the SUNIJ line south of P+R Westhaven was shut down in order to lower and extend station platforms to accommodate coupled pairs of low-floor CAF trams.

[26][27] High-floor trams continued to operate between P+R Westhaven and Jaarbeursplein until 4 July when that portion of the line also shut down.

The province of Utrecht hopes to recover 5 million euros for the damage to trams and infrastructure from the motorists' insurance companies, since their clients were all at fault.

[32] Between 26 June 2021 and 6 September 2021, line 22 was replaced by buses in order to repave the combined tram/bus lanes near Science Park station.

The project also included upgrades to the line's infrastructure (signals and switches) and work to stabilize the tram roadbed.

[39] There was an extra delay in opening line 61 due to work to reinforce the tram roadbed near IJsselstein Zuid.

[40] From 10 November 2020, day time tests resumed running a coupled pair of CAF trams between Utrecht and Nieuwegein.

[41] Line 60 from Utrecht Centraal to Nieuwegein Zuid reopened on 3 January 2021 using 7-section CAF trams running 8 times per hour from Monday through Saturday.

)[27] Prior to the renovation, the Stadscentrum tram stop was located on the south side of the street Passage at the entrance to the Cityplaza shopping mall.

[42] After the line reopened on 3 January 2021,[27] the stop had been temporarily relocated north of Passage between the streets Schouwstede and Hagestede.

Line 61 trams ran between Stadscentrum and IJsselstein-Zuid as test runs operating according to a schedule but without picking up passengers.

To compensate riders for the late reopenings, U-OV offered the public free trips for two weeks on both lines 60 and 61.

[45] On 22 October 2021, construction started to lengthen the platforms at the Jaarbeursplein tram stop in order to accommodate coupled trains with a length of 75 metres.

After the platforms are lengthened, U-OV could start running trams with passengers in mid-2022 between Jaarbeursplein and Utrecht CS Centrumzijde.

[47] These trams weighed 37.5 ton, were 30 metres (98 feet) long and are capable of a maximum speed of 80 km/h (50 mph).

On 4 July, the SUNIJ-lijn was fully shut down to renovate the line, and lower and lengthen its platforms to accommodate low-floor trams.

On 30 November 2020, SIG-tram 5017 was shipped along with spare parts to the Nederlands Transport Museum in Nieuw-Vennep for preservation.

These trams were used only during rush hours at the busiest stops between Utrecht Centraal and Nieuwegein Stadscentrum.

[51] However, in Utrecht the Vienna trams had technical problems costing the operator 3.2 million euros in maintenance; they also caused extra wear to the rails.

[52] The depot (Tramremise Nieuwegein) on the SUNIJ-lijn is the main storage and maintenance facility of the sneltram system, handling both low- and high-floor trams.