page_title: Trams in Adelaide
section_title: Horse tram network
hierarchical_section_title: Trams in Adelaide / History / Horse trams / Horse tram network
context_page_description: Until 1958, trams formed a network spanning most of Adelaide, with a history dating back to 1878. Adelaide ran horse trams from 1878 to 1914 and electric trams from 1909, but has primarily relied on buses for public transport since 1958. Electric trams and trolleybuses were Adelaide's main public transport throughout the life of the electric tram network. All tram services except the Glenelg tram line were closed in 1958. The Glenelg tram remains in operation and has been progressively upgraded and extended since 2005.
context_section_description: Various companies expanded the network from its initial line to Kensington, with eleven companies operating within six years, three more having already failed before constructing tracks. The Adelaide to North Adelaide line opened in December 1878, a separate one from Port Adelaide to Albert Park in 1879, Adelaide to Mitcham and Hindmarsh in 1881, Walkerville 1882, Burnside, Prospect, Nailsworth and Enfield in 1883, and Maylands in 1892. Various streets were widened especially for the tram lines including Brougham Place, North Adelaide by 10 feet (3 m) and Prospect Road to a total width of 60 feet (18 m).
  All but one line was built in 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) standard gauge with the exception from Port Adelaide to Albert Park. This line was built in 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) to accommodate steam engines, also requiring some of the line to be raised on embankments to avoid swampy ground and flooding. There were 74 miles (119 km) of tramlines with 1062 horses and 162 cars by 1901 and isolated lines from Port Adelaide to Albert Park and Glenelg to Brighton, as well as a network joining many suburbs to Adelaide's CBD by 1907.
  The network had termini in Henley Beach, Hindmarsh, Prospect, Nailsworth, Paradise, Magill, Burnside, Glen Osmond, Mitcham, Clarence Park, Hyde Park and Walkerville. To accommodate the specific needs of horses, most streets were left unsealed. The horses' urine needed an unsealed surface for absorption and their hooves a soft surface for good traction.
caption: The horse tram network in 1907
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