The Tramway Historical Society and the Central City Business Association ran a horse tram down City Mall this week. This is the second time it’s been done, in December last year it was run to open the refurbished Mall. These were the first trams on the new extension (which is still incomplete), and while the journey was short, about 2 mins each way, it showed how well trams will add to the ambience of City Mall. Horse trams were the original users of the lines from the 1880s, and they survived the steam era in use up until 1906, when the lines were electrified.
Hopefully, this will become a regular feature, even when the normal trams start running next year.
marsoe
Christchurch Transport Blog 
bismarck
December 28, 2010
This will be awesome if they continue at lease during the summer season once the lines are in regular electric tram use.
The only issue I could see is speed – A horse driven tram will be slower and the electric trams will need to overtake.
Maybe if the horse just did a short loop – Cashel St-High St-Square-Oxford Tce this could help all aleviate this bottleneck?
Marsoe
December 29, 2010
Yeah, the short loop is much more realistic, and better suited to the horse trams anyway. They were also charging $2 for one-way rides.