The first trams operated in the city of Linz in 1880, when a
horse-drawn tramway was opened from the
main station, then known as the
Westbahnhof, through the city centre and across the
Danube to a terminus at the present
Hinsenkampplatz. The line was built to the unusual tramway gauge of , which, outside the Linz area, is only used by the
trams in Lisbon. In 1895, the line was extended by at its northern end to the
Linz Urfahr railway station, popularly known as the
Mühlkreisbahnhof. In 1897, the tramway was electrified. In 1898, the then-independent
Pöstlingbergbahn opened from Linz Urfahr railway station to the summit of the
Pöstlingberg. This line was built to and there was therefore no possibility of trams running through from Linz city centre to the Pöstlingberg. Instead passengers changed trams at Linz Urfahr. In 1902 the main tram network was expanded by a line linking
Blumauerplatz, on the existing line south of the city centre, with the northern side of the bridge over the
Traun river in Kleinmünchen, giving a total length of . With this extension, the Linz tramway took on the form it was to retain for many years, with a long north to south line and a short branch to the main railway station. In 1914, the transverse route
M opened, whilst the north-south line was covered by routes
B from Urfahr to the station and
E from Urfahr to the southern terminus. In 1929, the north-south axis was lengthened to the south, with a new bridge to the suburb of Ebelsberg. Here a connection was made with the independent
Florianerbahn to
Sankt Florian. The tram lines were damaged during the
Second World War, and the situation post-war was not helped by the Danube bridge forming a control point between the
US and Russian occupied sectors of Austria, forcing passengers to change trams there. After 1955, some reconstruction took place, but in 1969, the transverse route
M was replaced by buses. In 1985 a branch was opened from Kleinmünchen to Auwiesen. Between 2002 and 2005 the route to Ebelsberg was extended in sections to
solarCity. In 2004, the main north-south route was diverted in a tunnel via the main railway station, thus removing the need for a separate branch to that location. In 2011, a new branch diverging from this tunnel at the railway station was extended to Doblerholz. Meanwhile, in 2008, the previously separate Pöstlingbergbahn was closed and rebuilt to the same gauge as the Linz trams. A connection between the two systems was created at Urfahr, enabling trams to run through. The line reopened in 2009. == Operation ==