Between 2015 and 2023, Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, considered introducing light rail lines to replace some of its most heavily used bus routes. Many of these new light rail lines would have reused the routes of Auckland's former tram system. Light rail systems have been proposed in Auckland throughout the late-20th and early 21st centuries following the closure of the tram system in the 1950s.

Trams in New Zealand were a major form of transport from the 19th century into the mid-20th century. New Zealand's first (horse) tramway was established in 1862 (Nelson), followed by a steam tramway in 1871 (Thames), and the first electric tramway in 1900. In New Zealand railway terminology a bush tramway is an industrial tramway, which usually did not carry passengers.