The history of LR55 track dates back to the late 1980s and early 1990s. Tramways built in the UK since Manchester have had different street track designs. There was little pre-installation testing of these designs. Some notable failures of these track systems have occurred. This is partly due to intrinsic design faults and, in some cases, difficulty of checking on proper installation.
LR55 involves a fresh look at the design of tramway track. It has been tested in the laboratory, in a bus station and has been in use on Sheffield Supertram since 1996.