Swindon Corporation was the local council formed by the 1901 Municipal Borough charter, with the amalgamation of the Old and New Swindon councils; a power station was built in Corporation Street. On the same site at SU 1522 8503 was the tram depot.

The corporation started to operate electric trams in 1904. A total of 3.75 miles (6.04 km) of 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) gauge track was laid down from the Great Western Railway Station to Rodbourne, Gorse Hill and the Market Square in Old Town. A small fleet of nine 48 seater trams were bought at the time of inception with four further cars purchased at a later date.

In 1906, the Swindon Tram disaster occurred. A number 11 tram taking passengers from the Bath and West Show being held in Old Town suffered brake failure driving down Victoria Hill and crashed in Regents Circus killing 5.

After only 25 years of operation, Swindon's Trams were phased out by buses in 1929.