Melbourne Trams

[glen]

Melbourne Trams



I found heaps of interesting info about the Melbourne Trams on the web. I have cut and paste some it from Wikipedia below. If you are a keen Melbourne Tram user then hopefully some of this info will be useful!



As an aside, has anyone heard anything about that crash that happened yesterday? Apparently lots of people got hurt. Especially the driver who got stuck in the driver cockpit. As far as I know, they haven't said why it happened as yet.



Happy and Safe Travels!



Cheers, Glen <img src='http://www.melbournechat.org/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/fishie.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

The city of Melbourne, the second-largest city in Australia, is home to the third largest tram network in the world, consisting of 245 kilometres of track, 500 trams, and 1813 tram stops. The trams are powered using 600V DC delivered via overhead wires and run on standard gauge track. Operated by the private company Yarra Trams since privatisation in 1999, Melbourne's trams contribute greatly to the city's distinctive character and are held in great affection by the people of Melbourne.



Melbourne is the only city in Australia where motor vehicles are required to perform a hook turn, a manoeuvre designed to give trams priority.

Official map of Melbourne's tram network

[url="http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/maps_stations_stops/metropolitan_trams"]http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/maps_st...ropolitan_trams[/url]



Official map of Melbourne's tram network - PDF

[url="http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/content/download/129/880/version/21/file/Tram+Network_A4_2007_02.pdf"]http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/content..._A4_2007_02.pdf[/url]



Main Melbourne Tram Routes

* 1 - South Melbourne Beach to Coburg East

* 3 - Melbourne University to Malvern East

* 5 - Melbourne University to Malvern

* 6 - Melbourne University to Glen Iris

* 8 - Moreland to Toorak

* 16 - Melbourne University to Kew via St Kilda

* 19 - City (Elizabeth and Flinders Streets) to Coburg North

* 24 - City (La Trobe Street West End) to Balwyn North

* 30 - New Quay/La Trobe Street West End to St Vincent's Plaza

* 31 - Collins Street West End to St Vincent's Plaza

* 35 (City Circle) - zero-fare service encircling the central business district

* 42 - City (Collins Street West End) to Box Hill

* 48 - New Quay, Docklands to Balwyn North

* 55 - City (Domain Interchange) to Coburg West

* 57 - City (Elizabeth and Flinders Streets) to Maribyrnong West

* 59 - City (Elizabeth and Flinders Streets) to Airport West

* 64 - Melbourne University to Brighton East

* 67 - Melbourne University to Carnegie

* 70 - Bourke St, Docklands to Wattle Park

* 72 - Melbourne University to Camberwell

* 75 - City (Spencer Street (LaTrobe Street)) to Vermont South

* 78 - Richmond North to Prahran

* 79 - Richmond North to St Kilda

* 82 - Footscray to Moonee Ponds

* 86 - Central Pier, Docklands to Bundoora RMIT campus

* 96 - St Kilda Beach to Brunswick East (Runs via St Kilda light rail line)

* 109 - Port Melbourne to Box Hill (Runs via Port Melbourne light rail line)

* 112 - Fitzroy Street, St Kilda to Preston West



Subsidiary tram routes



These are off-peak services that run along part of a major route above.



* 2 - Melbourne University to South Melbourne (shortened 1)

* 7 - Melbourne University to Malvern Town Hall (shortened 6)

* 11 - Spencer and Collins Streets to West Preston

* 12 - Kew to Malvern Depot (shortened 16)

* 18 - City to Brunswick Depot (shortened 19)

* 20 - City to Coburg (shortened 19)

* 27 - City (La Trobe Street) to Kew tram depot (shortened 24)

* 28 - La Trobe and Spencer Streets to Richmond (shortened 48/75)

* 41 - La Trobe and Spencer Streets to Harp Road and High Street, Kew (shortened 48)

* 47 - Port Melbourne to Kew tram depot (shortened 109)

* 49 - Flinders and Elizabeth Streets to Niddrie (shortened 59)

* 51 - Flinders and Elizabeth Streets to Essendon railway station (shortened 59)

* 52 - Flinders and Elizabeth Streets to Essendon (shortened 59)

* 54 - Flinders and Elizabeth Streets to Maribyrnong River (shortened 57)

* 58 - Flinders and Elizabeth Streets to Melbourne Showgrounds (shortened 57) - Special events only

* 61 - Melbourne University to South Caulfield Junction (shortened 64)

* 62 - Melbourne University to South Caulfield (shortened 64)

* 66 - Melbourne University to Glenhuntly Depot (shortened 67)

and - North Richmond to Glenhuntly Depot (lengthened 78)

* 71 - Flinders and Spencer Streets to Surrey Hills (shortened 70)

* 73 - Melbourne University Camberwell Junction (shortened 72)

* 76 - City (Flinders Street West End) to Camberwell tram depot (shortened 75)

* 81 - Flinders and Elizabeth Streets to Essendon Depot (shortened 59)

* 85 - Moonee Ponds to West Maribyrnong (shortened 82)

* 87 - City to La Trobe University (shortened 86)

* 89 - City (Spencer and Bourke Streets) to Preston tram depot (shortened 86)

* 91 - St Kilda Beach to Bourke and William Streets (shortened 96) (Runs via St Kilda light rail line)

* 92 - Spencer and Bourke Streets to Clifton Hill (shortened 86)

* 94 - Brunswick East to Southbank tram depot (shortened 96)

* 95 - City to Gertrude Street (shortened 96)

* 97 - St Kilda Beach to North Fitzroy (shortened 96)

* 98 - East Brunswick to Fitzroy Street (shortened 96)

* 108 - Box Hill to Southbank tram depot (shortened 109)

* 111 - Port Melbourne to Kew Depot (shortened 109) (Runs via Port Melbourne light rail line)

* 121 - Flinders and Market Streets to the Melbourne Cricket Ground - Special events only

* 124 - Flinders and Elizabeth Streets to Telstra Dome - Special events only

* 125 - Flinders and Market Streets to the Melbourne Cricket Ground - Special events only

* 129 - LaTrobe and Swanston Streets to Telstra Dome - Special events only

Some of the Melbourne trams models still in service



The A class trams



These trams, again built by Comeng, were introduced between 1984 and 1987. This model did away with the concept of a seated conductor, which was characteristic of the Z class trams. 70 were built and are still in service today.



The B1/B2-class trams/light rail vehicles



The B-class trams (also known as light rail vehicles) were first introduced to Melbourne in 1984 with the prototype B1 class trams, which were a significant improvement over the Z1-classes. Only 2 were built and they remain in service today.



B2 class trams were built from 1988-1994, by Comeng, and later ABB Transportation. They were an improvement over the B1-classes. 130 were built (No 2003-2132), all of which remain in service today. B2-classes are often spotted in all-over advertising livery. The B2 class was notable for the long overdue introduction of air-conditioning.



All of the B2-classes, and B1.2002 have been repainted in Yarra Trams livery (B1.2001 is in all-over advertising livery, but was also in Yarra Trams livery).



The Citadis and the Combino



The Citadis and Combino trams were introduced following privatisation of Melbourne's tram system. The private operators were obliged under their franchises to replace older Z class trams, although this has not fully taken place. Yarra Trams introduced the Citadis or C class, manufactured in France by Alstom. It is a three section articulated vehicle. Thirty-six are in service. The now defunct M-Tram purchased the German made Siemens Combino. The Combino is a three (D1 class) or five (D2 class) section articulated vehicle. Ownership of the D class trams has now passed to Yarra Trams. Currently 38 D1 and 21 D2 section vehicles are in service.

Source: [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Melbourne"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Melbourne[/url]

[helen m]

[quote name='glen' post='3471' date='Sep 25 2007, 09:27 PM']Melbourne is the only city in Australia where motor vehicles are required to perform a hook turn, a manoeuvre designed to give trams priority.[/quote]



so that's why they have those hook turns.............



i had no end of trouble doing hook turns when i was driving in melbourne. i would see the "right turn from left only" signs too late and invariably have to go straight on (although now that i know the reason for hook turns, it might be easier to know where to expect them). on my last day, for example, i only had to get from where i was staying in lonsdale street to franklin street to return the rental car, but as there was a fair bit of traffic around (it was a weekday morning) i ended up in the wrong lane a couple of times and finished up in the back streets of (i think) carlton - it took me about 40 minutes to do a short trip!

[helen m]

well, glen's post tells us pretty much all we need to know about the trams today, but for those of you with an interest in history, here a couple of sites that tell you about melbourne's trams of the past: [url="http://www.railpage.org.au/tram/melbhist.html"]http://www.railpage.org.au/tram/melbhist.html[/url]

[url="http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/ccoznz.html#mel"]http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/ccoznz.html#mel[/url]