The Ryde Pier Tramway opened on August 29, 1864, the tramway pier being built alongside the existing promenade pier. Horse-drawn trams took passengers from the pier head to the esplanade. Before construction of the railway pier, the tramway continued to Ryde railway station at St John's Road.

From 1886 to 1927 the trams were powered by electricity from a third rail, and from then until 1969 were powered by internal combustion engines.

In July 1880 a railway pier was opened alongside providing a direct railway link to the pier-head. The railway was part of the Portsmouth and Ryde Joint Railway (a company owned jointly by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and London and South Western Railway), as far as Ryde St John's Road, to connect with their ship services to Portsmouth. However, trains were run by the independent Isle of Wight Railway and Isle of Wight Central Railway, who owned the tracks beyond St John's Road and operated services to Ventnor and Cowes via Newport respectively.

The tramway pier was condemned following an inspection and the tramway closed in 1969.
The tramway pier structure was partially dismantled. This has left the disused and decaying tramway pier between the railway and promenade piers. The remaining structure has proved useful for temporary diversions, such as when a ship sliced through the promenade pier in 1974. In autumn 2010 the whole length was fitted with a temporary deck to provide a walkway, during re-building works on the Promenade Pier.

Car 2 from the tramway is currently being rebuilt by Alan Keef engineering on behalf of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.