The history of trams in Nizhny Novgorod begins with an informal competition involving three companies. On 15 May 1895 the firm Hartmann & Co signed a contract with the city to build two lines. Later in the summer of the same year Siemens & Halske also concluded a contract. A third company building a tramline was Podobedow & Co. Siemens won the race, with a tramline ready for use on 20 May 1896 Sources using the "old" (pre-1918 in the case of Russia) quasi-Julian calendar identify 20 May 1896 as 8 May 1896. and formally opened on 21 June. This line, which led to the showground being used for the vast All-Russia Exhibition, was closed down again after the exhibition ended in October. However, a year later, after the tracks and overhead power lines had been removed, the line was reconstructed, except that it now stopped slightly short of the former exhibition site.
