Horse trams Melbourne's first tram was a
horse tram from
Fairfield railway station to a real estate development in
Thornbury; it opened on 20 December 1884, and was closed by 1890. Seven horse tramlines operated in Melbourne, three were built by the
Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company (MTOC), while the other four were built by different private companies. The MTOC's three lines fed their cable tram system:
Victoria Bridge cable tram terminus to Kew (
Boroondara Cemetery), opened in 1887 and closed in 1915 after its sale to
Kew Council for conversion to a
Prahran & Malvern Tramways Trust electric line;
Hawthorn Bridge cable tram terminus to Auburn Road, via Burwood Road, Power Street and Riversdale Road, opened in 1890 and closed on 31 January 1916 after being sold to the
Hawthorn Tramways Trust for conversion to electric traction; and the Zoo line, from the
Royal Parade cable line to
Melbourne Zoological Gardens, opened on 10 March 1890 and closed in November 1923. The Zoo line was Melbourne's last horse tram and the only line still in operation at the formation of the
Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB), however it was destroyed by fire during the
1923 police strike; the MMTB took the decision not to reopen it, thus ending Melbourne's horse tram era. The Act established the Melbourne Tramways Trust (MTT), which was made up of the 12 municipalities that the MTOC system would serve. The MTT was responsible for the construction of tracks and engine house, while the MTOC built the depots, offices and arranged for the delivery or construction of the rolling stock. The MTT granted a lease to operate the system until 1 July 1916 to the MTOC, with the MTOC paying 4.5% interest on the debts incurred by the MTT in building the system. On 18 February 1890, the Northcote tramway was opened by the Clifton Hill to Northcote & Preston Tramway Company. This was Melbourne's only non-MTOC cable tram, built by local land speculators and was operated as an independent line, feeding the Clifton Hill line. When the lease expired on 1 July 1916, all the assets of the MTT and MTOC cable network were taken over by the Melbourne Tramways Board (MTB). From 1924 the cable tram lines were progressively converted to electric trams, or abandoned in favour of buses, with the last Melbourne cable tram operating on 26 October 1940.
First electric trams to
Doncaster tram The first electric tram in Melbourne was built in 1889 by the Box Hill and Doncaster Tramway Company Limited—an enterprise formed by a group of land developers—and ran from
Box Hill railway station along what is now Station Street and Tram Road to
Doncaster, using equipment left over from the Centennial International Exhibition of 1888 at the
Royal Exhibition Building. The venture was marred with disputes and operational problems, and ultimately failed, with the service ceasing in 1896. After this venture failed, electric trams returned on 5 May 1906, with the opening of the
Victorian Railways Electric Street Railway from
St Kilda to
Brighton, and was followed on 11 October 1906 with the opening of the
North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Company (NMETL) system, which opened two lines from the cable tram terminus at Flemington Bridge to
Essendon and Saltwater River (now
Maribyrnong River). The VR tram was called a "Street Railway" and was built using the Victorian Railways
broad gauge instead of the cable tramway
standard gauge of , and connected it with the
St Kilda railway station, which would allow trams to be moved along the St Kilda railway line for servicing at
Jolimont Yard. The line was opened in two stages, from St Kilda railway station to Middle Brighton on 5 May 1906 and to Brighton Beach terminus on 22 December 1906. VR opened a second, standard gauge, electric tramway from
Sandringham railway station to
Black Rock on 10 March 1919, it was extended to
Beaumaris on 2 September 1926. The service was withdrawn on 5 November 1956 and replaced with buses.
North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Company The
North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Company (NMETL) was an electricity and tramway company that operated from 1906 to 1922. The tramway section was taken over by the MMTB on 1 August 1922 and the electricity section taken over by the
State Electricity Commission of Victoria in 1922. The Victorian Government of Sir Thomas Bent approved an application by Mr Morgan to build a tramway system in the Essendon area on 29 March 1904, with a poll of ratepayers overwhelming supporting the proposition on 29 July 1904 (2874 votes to 146). Mr Morgan transferred the concession to the NMETL, which had been formed to build the system and provide electricity to the area. Under the concession the NMETL was to construct a tramway and provide electricity within the municipalities of Essendon and Flemington for 30 years, it also mandated a service at least every 20 minutes and had provisions for the undertaking to become property of the municipalities involved earlier than the prescribed 30 years. The NMETL bought land on
Mount Alexander Road for its offices, car barn and power house, with the foundation stone laid by the Mayors of Essendon and Flemington on 24 May 1905, and the first rail laid a month later by Premier Bent. The system opened on 11 October 1906 operating two routes from Flemington Bridge—one to Essendon via Mount Alexander Road,
Pascoe Vale Road, Fletcher Street and onto Mount Alexander Road again (with a short branch line along Puckle Street), and the second to Saltwater River via Mount Alexander Road, Victoria Street, Racecourse Road, Epsom Road, Union Road and Maribyrnong Road. The system was approximately and was operated by 25 motor cars and 10 trailers. In 1913, the region covered by the PMTT was extended and, thus, representatives of the
Hawthorn and
Kew councils were also included on the board. In 1916
Camberwell council representatives were also included. Following the PMTT, the following municipal trusts were formed: •
Hawthorn Tramways Trust – 1914 (Municipalities of
Melbourne,
Richmond,
Camberwell &
Hawthorn) •
Melbourne, Brunswick & Coburg Tramways Trust – 1916 (Municipalities of
Brunswick,
Coburg &
Melbourne) •
Fitzroy, Northcote & Preston Tramways Trust – in process of construction when taken over in 1920 (Municipalities of
Fitzroy,
Northcote &
Preston) • Footscray Tramway Trust – in process of construction when taken over in 1920 (Municipality of
Footscray)
Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board and
Flinders Streets showing electric and cable trams, 1927 The Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) was formed in July 1919 to take control of Melbourne's cable tram network, six of the seven electric tramway companies, and the last horse tram. By 1940, all cable and horse tram lines had been abandoned or converted to either electric tram or bus operation. Alex Cameron was its full-time chairman. To solve operational and maintenance problem the MMTB introduced in 1923 the iconic
W-class tram and phased out the other models. The
Preston Workshops were constructed about this time to manufacture and maintain the new tram fleet. In March 1923 Alex Cameron went overseas to investigate traffic problems. He returned next year, confirmed in his long-held opinions that electric trams were superior to buses and that overhead wires were preferable to the underground conduit (cable) system. Alex Cameron remained chairman there until 1935. He died a few years later in 1940, the same year the last of the cable tram services in Melbourne ended. After World War II other Australian cities began to replace their trams with buses. However, in Melbourne, the Bourke Street buses were replaced by trams in 1955, and new lines opened to
East Preston and
Brunswick East. , 1944 Melbourne's tram usage peaked at 260 million trips in 1949, before dropping sharply to 200 million the following year in 1950. However usage defied the trend and bounced back in 1951, but began a gradual decline in usage which would continue until 1970. Melbourne resisted the trend to shut down the network for three major reasons: partly because the city's wide streets and geometric street pattern made trams more practicable than in many other cities; partly because of resistance from the
unions; and partly because the Chairman of the MMTB,
Sir Robert Risson, successfully argued that the cost of ripping up the concrete-embedded tram tracks would be prohibitive. Also, the infrastructure and vehicles were relatively new, having replaced Cable Tram equipment in the 1920s–1940s. This destroyed the argument used by many other cities, which was that renewal of the tram system would cost more than replacing it with buses. The colour film "Citizen Tram" was commissioned by Risson in the 1960s. By the mid-1970s, as other cities became increasingly choked in traffic and air pollution, Melbourne was convinced that its decision to retain its trams was the correct one, even though patronage had been declining since the 1950s in the face of increasing use of cars and the shift to the outer suburbs, beyond the tram network's limits. The first tram line extension in over twenty years took place in 1978, along
Burwood Highway. The W-class trams were gradually replaced by the new Z-class trams in the 1970s, and by the A-class trams and the larger, articulated B-class trams in the 1980s. In 1980, the controversial
Lonie Report recommended the closure of seven tram lines. Public protests and union action resulted in the closures not being carried out.
Metropolitan Transit Authority and Public Transport Corporation sign The MMTB, along with the
metropolitan railway assets of
VicRail, were absorbed into the newly formed Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) on 1 July 1983, while the regional assets of VicRail were absorbed by the
State Transit Authority (STA). The MTA was formed to co-ordinate and operate the Melbourne public transport system, during 1986–87 an integration of rail, tram and bus divisions took place, with the operations, maintenance and administration of these departments fully integrated by 11 April 1988. The MTA introduced a new green and yellow livery and uniform design, with a new logo, showing the integration of Melbourne's public transport system, replacing the MMTB logo, and introduced a new time-based integrated ticketing system, for all modes of Melbourne's public transport. The conversion consisted of the track being re-gauged from
broad gauge to
standard gauge , the overhead wires being
converted to tramway voltage and light rail platforms built adjacent to the former stations platforms. As a result of the Transport (Amendment) Act 1989 the MTA and STA were merged into the Public Transport Corporation (PTC) on 1 July 1989, bringing all rail services in Victoria under one body. By the late 1980s, the state government was under financial pressures brought on by an economic downturn. In January 1990, the
Labor government of
Premier John Cain tried to introduce economies into the running of the public transport system, including the removal of
tram conductors. This provoked a long and crippling strike by the tramways union in January 1990, resulting in a back-down by the government and the retention of conductors. In the
1992 state election, the
Liberals came to power under Premier
Jeff Kennett, who planned to cut the costs of Melbourne's public transport network and remove conductors.
OneLink were contracted in 1995 to introduce an automatic ticketing system. The tramway union, which opposed this move, went on strike during the 1997 Grand Prix. One month later the government announced plans for
privatisation of the PTC.
Privatisation livery in 2001 On 1 July 1997, in preparation for privatisation of the
Public Transport Corporation, Melbourne's tram network was split into two businesses: Met Tram 1 (later renamed Swanston Trams) and Met Tram 2 (later renamed Yarra Trams).
VicTrack, a new statutory authority within the Victorian Government, was created in 1997 to hold the ownership of land and assets relating to Victoria's tram and rail systems. In addition, a statutory office was established—the
Director of Public Transport—to procure rail and tram services and to enter into and manage contracts with transport operators. After a tendering process the businesses were awarded as 12-year franchises, with Swanston Trams won by
National Express, and the Yarra Trams business by
TransdevTSL. Following a transitional period, the right to operate the two tram businesses was officially transferred from the government to the private sector under franchise agreements on 29 August 1999. The government ran M>Tram until negotiations were completed with Yarra Trams for it to take-over responsibility of the whole tram network from 18 April 2004.
System upgrades As a part of the privatisation process, franchise contracts between the state government and both private operators included obligations to extend and modernise the Melbourne tram network. This included acquiring new tram rolling stock, in addition the existing tram fleet was refurbished. Swanston Trams (M>Tram) introduced 59 new
Siemens Combino (D-class)
low-floor built trams by
Siemens, at a cost of A$175 million, and invested approximately A$8 million in refurbishing their fleet, while Yarra Trams introduced 36
Alstom Citadis (C-class) low-floor trams, at a cost of A$100 million, and invested A$5.3 million refurbishing their fleet. In 2003 the marketing and umbrella brand
Metlink was introduced to co-ordinate the promotion of Melbourne's public transport and the communications from the separate privatised companies. Metlink's role was to provide timetables, passenger information about connecting services provided by several operators, fares and ticketing information and introduce uniform signage across the Melbourne public transport system. Since privatisation extensions have been made to the tram system, with the $28 million extension of the 109 to Box Hill opening on 2 May 2003, a $7.5 million extension along Docklands Drive in Docklands opened on 4 January 2005, and a $42.6 million extension of the 75 to Vermont South opening on 23 July 2005. in
Public Transport Victoria livery at
Preston Workshops on the test track before entering passenger service, September 2013 It was announced on 27 September 2010 that
Bombardier Transportation had won a $303 million contract to supply and maintain 50 new
E-class trams, the contract includes an option for a further 100. They will be built at Bombardier's Dandenong factory, with the propulsion systems and bogies coming from Bombardier's factories in
Mannheim and
Siegen, Germany, respectively. The trams will be 33 metres long and have a capacity of 210 passengers and are due to be in service in 2013. The first E-class tram arrived at Preston Workshops in late June 2013 for testing, with the first two E-class entering revenue service in November 2013. In April 2012,
Public Transport Victoria (PTV), a new
statutory authority was formed after amendments to the
Transport Integration Act 2010 and the passing of the Transport Legislation Amendment (Public Transport Development Authority) Act 2011. PTV assumed responsibility from the Director of Public Transport for the provision and administration of Victoria's transport services. It also provides information on fares, transport services and initiatives, and is responsible for overseeing and improving Victoria's public transport services. The era since privatisation has also brought large patronage increases, an increase in platform stops, and a new ticketing system. In 1999–2000 year—when the tram system was privatised—patronage was 127.3 million per annum, this has increased almost each year since, and in the 2012–2013 year was 182.7 million passenger trips, a 4.2% year-on-year patronage increase; trams are the second most utilised public transport method, between trains and buses. The
Metcard ticketing system which operated from 1996 was switched off on 29 December 2012, leaving
myki—which has been in operation on Melbourne trains since 29 December 2009, and valid on Melbourne trams and buses since 25 July 2010—as the sole ticketing system.
Recent , making the network one of the slowest in the world. At the start of 2015, the Free Tram Zone was introduced, which provided for free tram travel within the
CBD,
Docklands and the
Queen Victoria Market, and ticketing was simplified to have just two payment zones. Primarily aimed at helping tourists move around the city centre, the Free Tram Zone was criticised by some as contributing to tram overcrowding. Between 2015 and 2019, 50 more E-Class trams were ordered by the
Andrews state government, bringing the total order to 100 to be delivered by 2021. In April 2018, the state government announced a new extension of the tram network from
Caulfield. The extension would serve
Chadstone,
Monash University,
Waverley Park and
Rowville. The state government allocated $3 million to plan the route, which would be constructed in two stages, with the first running from Caulfield to Monash. In 2020, six tram stops were rebuilt to be low-floor and accessible on
Nicholson Street in
Carlton as part of the Route 96 Project started in 2012 to make the entire line level-access and more separated from car traffic. Despite gradual stop upgrades, by 2021 73% of Melbourne's tram stops were still inaccessible for people in wheelchairs with initiatives like the Route 96 Project being criticised as too slow. As part of the project,
Acland Street in
St Kilda was closed to cars and a plaza built. In the 2020–21 budget, the state government announced $1.48 billion for 100 next generation trams,
G-class trams, to replace older low-floor trams, to be delivered from 2025 following the completed order of 100 E-class trams. In August 2021, the Government announced that a new maintenance and storage depot would be built at
Maidstone to accommodate these new trams. , the
Maidstone tram depot is currently under construction and is scheduled to be completed in 2025. ==Routes==