Melbourne Trams
Yarra Trams

Melbourne Transport Images ©2011 Ian Greig

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Transport images in Melbourne taken by Ian Greig in 2011.

The Melbourne tramway network is a major form of public transport in Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia. As of June 2011, the network consisted of 250 km (155.3 miles) of track, 487 trams, 28 routes, and 1,773 tram stops. It was therefore the largest urban tramway network in the world, ahead of the networks in St. Petersburg (240 km (150 miles)), Berlin (190 km (120 miles)), Moscow (181 km (112 miles)) and Vienna (172 km (107 miles)).

The network is operated under contract, the current private operator being KDR Melbourne, trading as Yarra Trams. Ticketing, public information and patronage promotion are undertaken by Melbourne's multi-modal service provider, Metlink.

Early Tramway History
Francis Boardman Clapp, an American transport entrepreneur and Melbourne businessman, set up the Melbourne Omnibus Company with William McCulloch and Henry Hoyt, bringing organised street public transport to Melbourne. Scheduled services consisted of 11 horse-drawn buses taking passengers from the two City railway stations via Bourke Street to the Birmingham Hotel on the corner of Smith and Johnson Streets in Fitzroy. The three-penny fare was cheaper than a cab ride and soon services were operating to Richmond, Carlton and North Melbourne.

In 1869 a significant improvement on the horse tram was developed in San Francisco. English-born Andrew Hallidie, a manufacturer of steel wire rope, had an idea that the trams could be hauled more steadily and safely by a cable. Hallidie patented the inventions that made cable traction possible and the world's first cable tram system commenced operation in San Francisco in 1873. This invention, and the progress of the San Francisco system, had been closely watched by an American transport entrepreneur and Melbourne businessman. In 1877, Francis Boardman Clapp bought the Victorian patents of Andrew Hallidie's inventions and changed the name of his company to the Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company.

Spurred on by tramways development overseas and the introduction of steam trams in Sydney, the colonial government in 1883 passed the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Act. Under this Act local councils whose streets would become part of the proposed network set up the Melbourne Tramways Trust to build tracks and powerhouses for the cable trams. Once complete, the whole cable system was to be leased to the Melbourne Tramways & Omnibus Company to operate regular services until 1916. Melbourne’s first cable tramway, the Spencer Street-Richmond line, ran from the corner of Bourke and Spencer Streets to Flinders Street, Wellington Parade and Bridge Road to the Hawthorn Bridge. It opened on 11 November 1885. The road had to be excavated to a depth of nearly four feet (1.2m) and tunnels constructed to house cables running in both directions. Large steam engines powered a 24,870ft (7,580m) rope (as the cables were called) to the city, and a 14,754ft (4,497m) rope to Hawthorn Bridge.

The cables consisted of six strands of seven steel wires with a hemp core. Threading of the cable called on the resources of an army of men and a team of horses, while to drag it up to Jolimont Hill in East Melbourne the number of horses had to be increased to 25. Over the next six years, many city streets and suburban thoroughfares saw similar upheavals and feats of engineering. By 1891 Melbourne had 44 miles (71 km) of double track cable tramway, powered by 11 engine houses. Cable lines ran along every main street of the city (except King, William, Russell, Exhibition, Spring, Queen and La Trobe Streets) and along all major exit roads.

   W Class Bogie Trams
   Z Class Bogie Trams (Z1, Z2, Z3)
   A Class Bogie Trams (A1, A2)
   B Class Articulated Trams (B1, B2)
   C Class Citadis Trams
   C2 Class Citadis Trams
   D Class Combino Trams

References

   Yarra Trams:  www.yarratrams.com.au
   Metlink:  www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au

Melbourne Tram Maps

   2011 Area Map
   2010 Tram Network Map
   2010 City Centre Network Map
   City Circle Tram Map