On this day in 1863, the Cape Town and Green Point Tramway Company began its operations.
Public transport in South Africa commenced in Cape Town in May 1801, when a weekly coach service from Cape Town to Simon’s Town was announced. Many years later, in September 1862, the Cape Town and Green Point Tramway Company was formed, with operations beginning on 1 April 1863. It was a horse-drawn service running on rails from the foot of Adderley Street and out along Somerset Road to Green Point. Both single- and double-decker horse-drawn trams were used.
In 1879, the Cape Town City Council authorised a second tramways company, the City Tramways Company Limited, to operate a similar horse-drawn service, initially out to Green Point and Sea Point, and later to the Gardens and the southern suburbs. Later, tram services also existed in Johannesburg, where the suburban railway to Boksburg (opened in 1890) was called the Rand Tram. Tram services also existed in Pretoria and Durban, but were all replaced by petrol, diesel and trolley bus systems by the early 1960s.
Information courtesy of: https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/first-tramway-company-cape-town-commences-operations-horse.
