Which railway opened in 1881 as the world’s first public electric railway?

The Gross-Lichterfelde tramway opened in 1881 as the world’s first public electric railway.

The line operated between Berlin-Lichterfelde and the Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof area in Germany. It was developed by Werner von Siemens and began public service on 16 May 1881. The railway used electricity supplied through the running rails, an arrangement that was later changed because exposed electrified rails created safety problems.

The short route demonstrated that electric traction could carry paying passengers in regular service. Its cars were small and initially operated at modest speeds, but the experiment helped establish electric railways as practical for urban transport.

This distinction is different from the first electric underground railway or the first electric tramway in a particular country. The Gross-Lichterfelde line was an above-ground public railway, while later systems such as Berlin’s electric urban railways used safer overhead or protected third-rail arrangements.