The first concrete proposal for a tramway system in Cambridge came in 1878, but it was not until 8th July 1880 that work commenced on preparation of the roads for the laying of the tramway, under supervision of the London tramway contractor J.F. Meston. Only part of the proposed tramway was laid, the proposed lines along Newmarket road, Maid’s Causeway and Emmanuel Road was never laid.
The cost of laying the rails was estimated as £3,617 per mile, 2.67 route miles being laid. There was no significant gradient throughout the route, a maximum level difference being less than 10 feet. The tramway consisted of a 6-inch deep concrete bed upon which wooden sleepers were laid and steel girder rails attached to the wooden sleepers
On Wednesday 28th October 1880, the first completed section, from the railway station to the post office opposite Christ’s College, was opened, with all six cars each drawn by a single horse. That day they were running at 30-minute intervals and carried 136 passengers, but two days later this total was made insignificant when they carried 1,750 passengers and took over £14 in fares!
The registered offices, stables and tram shed were located at 184 East Road, near to Anglia Polytechnic University, prior to gaining these premises, the horses and cars were kept in the Great Northern Railway goods yard. By 1883, more horses were acquired, and their running profits were put towards the building of more impressive stables, clearly the company was flourishing.
The year ending June 1887 proved to be the most successful year so far, travelling 89,776 miles and conveying over half a million passengers, their good luck was not to last as the following year showed a distinct reduction in profits due to poor weather causing the tramway to deteriorate much faster, requiring repairs. It was at this point that a shareholder, Mr Outram, suggested that a saving of £500 could be made be dispensing with horses and instead use steam traction, but this idea was rejected as a Parliament act prevented it and the public were less than eager about the idea.
In 1898, a proposal came from the British Electric Traction Co. Ltd. to purchase the shares from the tramway company, in order to substitute electrification for horse traction. Many members of public applauded this idea, it removing the need for, what many saw as, horses being overloaded, in addition to this, the new electric trams would have been safer, warm and comfortable in the winter and cool and comfortable in the summer. Despite all of these possible improvements, the electric tramways were never to materialise. In part, due to complaints about the planned routes and the positioning of the overhead wires, which were thought to be unsightly, impede traffic and possibly have a negative effect on the shops, close to which, cable supports would have to be positioned.
In 1907, a new bus company was formed and this company was to sound the death knell of the street tramways. Mr J.B. Walford took over the defunct Cambridge Motor Bus Co. and renamed the company the Ortona Motor Co., after a seaside town in Italy that he had passed whilst on a recent cruise. The Ortona busses started operation on 1st August 1907, with three new Scott-Stirling single deckers and a second hand Maudslay double-decker. These four Ortona busses ran in direct competition to the street tramways, having the advantage that they could travel from the entrance of the rail station, to the Post Office and then over the river to New Chesterton. (De Freville Avenue). With the Ortona busses came fixed bus stops, the tramway company having chosen to stop whenever the passengers requested.
The tramways carried on for another seven years until the receipts were so poor that the company could not afford to pay the council for the upkeep of the road. A week prior to the closure of the tramways, the trams carried notices informing passengers that the trams would no longer run after 18 February and suggested that they should take their children in them, so they might be able to remember them. On the last day of operation, the receivers decided that the trams should stop early to prevent student vandalism, so the last tram left the station at 6.25pm, driven by Ephraim Skinner, the oldest and longest serving driver.