A horse tramway was built in 1880 by the "Wigan Corporation" and leased to a succession of private companies to operate services to Pemberton, Aspull and towards Standish. Steam tram operation was introduced quickly, but the network always struggled to pay its way and just after the start of the 20th century Wigan Corporation gradually bought the operating leases and converted the network to electric tramcar operation. However, the network was saddled with a mix of standard gauge and narrow gauge lines, reducing efficiency and increasing costs; the last of the Wigan Corporation Tramways were closed in 1931 to be replaced by buses, which had begun as 'feeder' services to the trams but which had shown themselves to be faster and more flexible. Trolleybuses were operated on a single route from Wigan to Martland Mill from 1925 to 1931.