Genevan Tram at Carouge

Geneva's and Switzerland's first trams ran on 19 June 1862, with the opening of a horsecar tramway between Place Neuve and Carouge.

In 1889, a steam tramway was opened, and in 1894 Geneva's first electric tram entered service. In 1899, the Compagnie Genevoise des Tramways Électriques (CGTE), was inaugurated and set itself the goal of unifying the various systems. All lines were electrified and converted to a uniform metre gauge.

In 1923 the city had the largest network of tramways in Europe, with a total of 120 km of tramways had been built. The network extended across the border into France.

However in 1925, the CGTE began to convert its interurban lines to bus operation, and this process continued in the city centre, where the lines were partly replaced by trolleybuses. By 1969, the network had shrunk to just one 8 km long tramway.

In the 90s the tram network has been greatly extended with new trams. There are now 4 tram routes of Transport Publics Geenvois that cover the city and are planned to run across the border to France.

Carouge itself was built from the ground up, by Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy, starting on 31 January 1786. It has an italian feel to it with brightly coloured houses and squares.