List of town tramway systems in Africa

Last updated March 06, 2025

This is a list of African cities and towns that have, or once had, town tramway (urban tramway, or streetcar) systems as part of their public transport system.

Algeria

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
el-Jazair ولاية الجزائر /Algiers		Steam	12 Sep 1894	1935
		Electric	14 Apr 1898	3 Sep 1959
	Algiers tramway	Electric	8 May 2011
Annaba عنّابة		Steam	?	?
Qacentina قسنطينة /Constantine	Constantine tramway	Electric	4 July 2013
Biskra بسكرة		Horse	?	?
Sidi Bel Abbès سيدي بلعباس	Sidi Bel Abbès tramway	Electric	26 Jul 2017
Blida البليدة		Steam	?	?
Miliana مليانة		Steam	?	?
Mestghanem مستغانم /Mostaganem	Mostaganem Tramway	Electric	18 Feb 2023
Wahrān وهران /Oran		Steam	?	?
		Electric	1898	1950
	Oran tramway	Electric	1 May 2013
Ouargla ورقلة		Horse	1911	1941	Narrow gauge. From Ksar to Bordj Lutaud, around 1500 metres.
Ouargla ورقلة	Ouargla tramway	Electric	20 Mar 2018
Sétif سطيف		Horse	?	?
Sétif سطيف	Sétif tramway	Electric	8 May 2018
Touggourt تقرت		Horse	?	?

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Boma		Steam	4 Mar 1890	ca. 1900

Egypt

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
el-Iskandariya الإسكندرية /Alexandria – Urban system	Alexandria Tram	Horse	1860	1902?
	Alexandria Tram	Electric	1902
♦ Ramleh (suburban) system	Alexandria Tram	Horse	1869	?
		Steam	?	?
		Electric	Dec 1903
el-Qāhirah القاهرة /Cairo	Trams in Greater Cairo	Electric	12 Aug 1896	ca. 2015	In autumn 2015 the operation very short path length of about 3 km, which was supposed to close at the end of that year. It was finally closed in 2019. Metre gauge See Transport in Cairo
♦ Miṣr el-ǧidīdah مصر الجديدة /Heliopolis	Trams in Greater Cairo	Electric	9 May 1908	July 2018^[1]	Cairo system extended to serve Heliopolis in 1908. Express tramway between Cairo main station and Heliopolis opened 11 Jul 1910.
Hulwan /Helwan		Electric	19 Feb 1981	ca. 2011	Metre gauge; Ceased operation in the aftermath of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. By the end of 2015, trams were finally removed from the depot, located in Arab al-Fawarsa.
Būr Saʻīd بور سعيد /Port Said		Horse	22 Sep 1900	1932	Metre gauge

Eritrea

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Massawa		Steam	?	?

Ethiopia

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Addis Ababa	Addis Ababa Light Rail	Electric	20 September 2015

Ghana

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Accra		Steam	1906	1941

Kenya

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Mombasa		human	1890s	1921	In Mombasa's Fort Jesus you can find a historic car

Libya

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Banġāzī بنغازي /Benghazi		Horse	?	?

Madagascar

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Antananarivo		(Steam)			Construction started after 1921, not completed.
Toamasina		Horse	?	?

Mauritius

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Port-Louis and Plaines Wilhems	Metro Express	Electric	Dec 2019^[2]

Morocco

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)
Casablanca	Casablanca tramway	Electric	12 Dec 2012
Marrākiš مراكش /Marrakech		Steam	?	?
Rabat		Steam	1917^[3]	1930
Rabat	Rabat-Salé tramway	Electric	23 May 2011^[4]

Mozambique

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Maputo		Electric	Feb 1904	30 Nov 1936

Nigeria

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Lagos		Steam	23 May 1902	31 Dec 1913

Sierra Leone

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Freetown		Steam	?	?

South Africa

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Franschhoek	Franschhoek Wine tram	Diesel	(Since 1904) 2012	Present	Two double deck trams and one single deck tram operate on the 27km Paarl-Franschhoek branch line
Cape Town – Urban	Trams in Cape Town.	Horse	1 May 1863	?
Cape Town – Urban	Trams in Cape Town.	Electric	6 Aug 1896	28 Jan 1939
	♦ Suburban tramway	Electric	Nov 1901	17 Feb 1930	Sea Point – Camps Bay – Burnside Road See also Trams in Cape Town.
Durban	Trams in Durban	Horse	1881	?
Durban	Trams in Durban	Electric	1 May 1902	1 Aug 1949
♦ Isipingo		Horse	1905	1910s	Closed during World War I.
East London		Electric	25 Jan 1900	25 Oct 1935
Johannesburg	Trams in Johannesburg	Horse	2 Feb 1891	14 July 1906	The Randtram line was railway which opened on 17 March 1890, then 1 year later became Rand Tram in 1891 first tramway^[5]
Johannesburg	Trams in Johannesburg	Electric	14 Feb 1906	18 Mar 1961
Kimberley	Trams in Kimberley, Northern Cape	Mule	1887	?
		Steam	1900	?
		Electric	1906	1947
		Electric	1985		Heritage tram
Pietermaritzburg	Trams in Pietermaritzburg	Electric	2 Nov 1904	Dec 1936
Port Elizabeth	Trams in Port Elizabeth	Horse	1881	?
Port Elizabeth	Trams in Port Elizabeth	Electric	16 Jun 1897	16 Dec 1948
Pretoria	Pretoria tramway	Horse	1897	?	Church Square to the Union Buildings^[6]
Pretoria	Pretoria tramway	Electric	1910	19 Aug 1939

Spain (Islas Canarias / Canary Islands)

See List of town tramway systems in Spain.

Sudan

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
al-Ḫarṭūm الخرطوم /Khartoum		Steam	1904	?
al-Ḫarṭūm الخرطوم /Khartoum		Electric	16 Jan 1928	Feb 1962

Tanzania

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Zanzibar		Animal	1907	?	Domesticated zebras used at opening. See also History of rail transport in Zanzibar.
Zanzibar		Steam	1911	1928

Tunisia

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)
Manzil Bourgueeba منزل بورقيبة /Menzel Bourguiba		Steam	?	?
Tūnis تونس /Tunis		Horse	1885	?
		Electric	1900	20 Apr 1960
	Métro léger de Tunis	Electric	15 Sep 1985

Zimbabwe

Location	Name of System	Traction Type	Date (From)	Date (To)	Notes
Mutare		Horse	22 Aug 1901	by 1920

References

↑ EJOLT. "Heliopolis Municipality Completely Removes Tram Line, Egypt | EJAtlas". Environmental Justice Atlas . Retrieved 27 December 2019.
↑ "Metro Express Limited launches Free Passenger Service" (Press release). Government Information Service – Mauritius govt. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
↑ "Rabat. Les lignes de "tramway" en ville". Les chemins de fer au Maroc au temps du protectorat. Serre Éditeur. 1 October 2012. Archived from the original on 6 August 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
↑ "Rabat Trams: Routes and times". railwaysafrica.com. Railways Africa Magazine. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
↑ "Short history of trams in Johannesburg".
↑ Schutte, Claus (4 August 2018). "short-history-tram-lines-serving-pretoria-and-union-buildings-church-square". The Heritage Portal. Retrieved 19 February 2025.

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[1] EJOLT. "Heliopolis Municipality Completely Removes Tram Line, Egypt | EJAtlas". Environmental Justice Atlas . Retrieved 27 December 2019.

[2] "Metro Express Limited launches Free Passenger Service" (Press release). Government Information Service – Mauritius govt. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2020.

[3] "Rabat. Les lignes de "tramway" en ville". Les chemins de fer au Maroc au temps du protectorat. Serre Éditeur. 1 October 2012. Archived from the original on 6 August 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2012.

[4] "Rabat Trams: Routes and times". railwaysafrica.com. Railways Africa Magazine. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011.

[5] "Short history of trams in Johannesburg".

[6] Schutte, Claus (4 August 2018). "short-history-tram-lines-serving-pretoria-and-union-buildings-church-square". The Heritage Portal. Retrieved 19 February 2025.

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List of town tramway systems in Africa

Contents

Spain (Islas Canarias / Canary Islands)

See also

References