construction began in january 1911 and lines to waikiwi and georgetown opened on 26 march 1912. later that year two more lines opened, to north invercargill and south invercargill; the latter was the southernmost electrified street tram line in the world and ran to tramway road. the network operated as two routes: route a between georgetown and waikiwi and route b between north and south invercargill. the waikiwi line closed in 1947, though a section remained in operation until 1951. the georgetown route closed on 2 july 1951, but the section to rugby park stadium remained open until august 1951. the south invercargill line closed on 31 may 1952. the last route, to north invercargill, closed on 10 september 1952.