The 1898 opening of the Osborne Street Corporation power station and the act of Parliament of 1901 giving Colchester Corporation the right to construct a tram system inside the borough, resulted in the First Trams running on the 28th July 1904.

The 45ft rails weighing 87lb /yard came from Belgium and the construction of both tracks and overhead line equipment were carried out by J.G.White and Co. Ltd. Messrs Lacey and Sillar were the engineers. The overhead suspension was of various types , center poles were erected in High Street and side poles with bracket arms or span wires used at other places according to the width of the road.The power being taken from the slightly enlarged Corporations own electricity works.

Total route mileage was 5 miles 11chains (1mile 77 chains being double track).All routes Started at North Station giving 3 routes in all (4 spurs) . The roadway under the railway bridge at North Station had to be lowered for the trams running on the double tracks to the top of North Hill.The rest of the system was single track.

The sharpest curve was 40ft radius . Newell magnetic track brakes had to be fitted as there was an appreciable distance of gradient greater than 1 in 15. The steepest being 1 in 12.

Cars no 1 to 16 were delivered in time for the first four routes to be opened on the 28th July 1904 by the Lady Mayoress Mrs E.M.Barritt driving the first car (no 13) from the Town Hall to Lexden , then North Station and back to the Town Hall.

Service commenced at 5am (9 am Sundays) finishing at 11pm with the trams running at 15 minute intervals on each leg leading to a five minute frequency where the routes all converged on the high street North Station Leg.

In 1904 1d (one old penny) would take you from :

North Station - top North Hill ,Top North Hill - Holly Lodge ,Holly Lodge - Straight Road and East Gates - High Street.

The Corporation obtained a further act of Parliament in 1905 authorizing them to build an extension from St Botolphs to The Recreation Ground . Opened on January 28th 1906 it was 47 chains long (22 double track and 25 single).Cars no 17 and 18 were purchased as a result of this giving 18 trams to service the total 5 miles and 39.34 chains of tramway.

As all 4 routes traversed North Hill and 3 traversed High Street the track was laid double to the George Hotel in High Street.. The section of track down Queen Street was doubled through to the junction in Magdalen Street where the Hythe and Recreation Ground Spurs diverged. The Lexden route was doubled from the Top of North Hill down Head Street and just into Crouch Street.

To prevent cars meeting on the single track section turn from the North( castle) end of Queen Street into High Street , a signalling system was installed. At each end of the section there was signal light which was switched on by the driver of a car entering the section, and switched off again by the driver as he left at the other end of the section. A similar system was used on the Head Street / Crouch street turn.

The cars were 4 wheel open topped , nos 1 - 16 with three windows per side. Balcony top decks , longitudinal wooden seating for 22 on the saloon.The top deck with a capacity of 24 was reached by reversed staircases. The cars which were of the "Preston" type were supplied by Dick Kerr and Co. and had bodies built by The Electric Railway and Tramway Carriage Works Ltd. The Trucks were Brill 21E with two 35hp Dick Kerr controllers and Newell Magnetic brakes

Destination indicators were carried high above the front top deck rails and illuminated. On each side of the car along the waist rail was a destination indicator , which always displayed the car's outer terminus whichever direction the car was proceeding

In 1906 2 more cars were supplied this time built by the United Electric Car Co. Ltd. Similar to the other 16 they differed in having direct stairs.

The car depot was in Magdelen Street with 6 roads leading from an entrance fan

The first section of tramway to be replaced by buses was between High Street and East Gates. When on the 21st May 1928 four Dennis GS 20 seater single Decker buses started running. The two services were :-

Parsons Heath - Shrub End (leather bottle)

Greensted Road , Hythe Station Road - Drury Hotel

Five more single deckers (Dennis E's with 31 seater bodies) were purchased .

In Sept 1928 the first double deckers (10 and 11) Dennis H's commenced and then in May 1929 another Dennis H was purchased. These replaced the trams on the North Station to Lexden rout. The final two routes to the Hythe and the Recreation Ground were discontinued on the 8th December 1929 .The Tram system had been replaced by the total purchase of 19 buses

Suppliied by- Dick,Kerr & Co.

Trucks- Brill 21E
Body- British Electric Wagon & Co (1 - 16) with reversed staircase
United Electric Car Co. Ltd (17 - 18) with direct staircase
Power- 2 of 35hp
Extra Brakes -Newell Magnetic Braking System
Gauge -3ft 6inch
Cost £ 375
Year of purchase- 1904 (1-16)
---------------------1906 (17 - 18)