Tasmanian Railways

Early public transport consisted of horse drawn vehicles. Later railways were constructed initially by private investors and later the Government. A large number of railways and tramways were built to cater for the needs of mining and timber extraction projects. In towns ands cities transport was initially horse powered until the early 1890s when a private venture constructed an electric tramway in Hobart. Launceston Municipal Council constructed in own electric tramway network some years later. The privately owned tramway in Hobart was taken over by the city council and it and Launceston were subsequently taken over by a Government body. In later years the trams were replaced by trolley buses and they in turn by petrol buses.

A copy of the History of Tasmanian Railways.pdf is available for download here.