City Circle tram
The City Circle (Melbourne tram route 35) is a zero-fare tram running around the Melbourne central business district in Australia. Aimed mainly at tourists, the route passes many Melbourne attractions while running along the city centre's outermost thoroughfares, as well as the developing Docklands waterfront precinct. It operates in both clockwise and anti-clockwise direction.
| Route 35 (City Circle) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Overview | |||||
| System | Melbourne tramway network | ||||
| Operator | Yarra Trams | ||||
| Depot | Southbank | ||||
| Vehicle | W class | ||||
| Began service | 29 April 1994 | ||||
| Route | |||||
| Start | Waterfront City | ||||
| Via | Harbour Esplanade La Trobe Street Nicholson Street Spring Street Flinders Street Harbour Esplanade | ||||
| End | Waterfront City | ||||
| Zone(s) | Free Tram Zone | ||||
| Timetable | City Circle timetable | ||||
| Map | City Circle map | ||||
| |||||
History
The tram route was introduced on 29 April 1994,[1][2] requiring a small track extension along Spring Street, between Collins and Flinders Streets, to enable a complete CBD loop to be formed.[3][4] The Federal Government's Building Better Cities program funded the $6.4 million capital cost of the track expansion, while the State Government funded the running costs.[5]
Until January 2003, the western leg of the original route of the tram was down Spencer Street, but the route was then extended west to run through Harbour Esplanade, Docklands.[6][7][8][9] The travel time around the circle before this change was 40 minutes.[10]
Between May and November 2005, the route temporarily ran between Flinders Street / Spencer Street and Victoria Parade / Nicholson Street due to the closure and removal of the Flinders Street Overpass over King Street.[11][12]
During early 2006, new Passenger Information Displays were installed along with Digital Voice Announcements.
In April 2008, the service adopted the daylight saving timetable on a permanent basis, operating from 10:00 to 21:00 every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The end of service at other times is 18:00.[13]
On 30 May 2009, the route was altered for a second time, being extended from Harbour Esplanade to the NewQuay and Waterfront City precincts via Docklands Drive. This made the route an elongated 'q'.[14][15]
Services after 18:00 between Thursday and Sunday were removed in November 2020.[16]
From 30 October 2023, the route will only run in a clockwise direction between 9:30 and 17:30 daily.[17]
Route
The route of the City Circle trams roughly follows the outer edges of the Hoddle Grid, with three diversions. It takes in all of La Trobe Street, Harbour Esplanade and Flinders Street. It follows Spring Street between Flinders and Bourke Streets, but travels along Nicholson Street and Victoria Street before turning into La Trobe Street. At the junction of Harbour Esplanade and Latrobe Street trams turn off the loop to run to and from a terminus towards the end of Docklands Drive, Waterfront City.
Operation
The City Circle route is operated with heritage W class trams, restored to original condition as part of the W8 upgrade. As of 2020, these are the only W-class trams on the system, and there are no plans to retire them. The City Circle trams originally sported a unique maroon livery promoting the service, however as part of the W8 upgrade the trams were restored back to their original green and cream livery. Until 2014, the City Circle was one of several routes to run W-class trams (30, 78 and 79) but the remaining routes controversially had their W-class trams removed, mostly replaced by A class. Trams display the route number 35.[18][19] The City Circle operates at a headway of 12 minutes in both directions, with the service taking approximately 60 minutes to complete a loop. Ten trams are allocated to the service at any one time (five in each direction). An average of three million passengers uses the service every year, with each tram circling the city 9 times a day, or 12 times when the tram operates to 21:00.[13]
Route map
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References
- City Circle Opens Trolley Wire issue 258 August 1994 pages 16–22
- Public transport – City Loop history
- Melbourne Track and Overhead Work Trolley Wire issue 256 February 1994 page 26
- Lyndsay Neilson (2008). Butcher, John (ed.). Getting implementation going. doi:10.22459/AUC.04.2008. ISBN 9781921313776. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - Lyndsay Neilson (2008). Butcher, John (ed.). Appendix 1: Funding Allocation, Victorian Area Strategies. doi:10.22459/AUC.04.2008. ISBN 9781921313776. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - City Circle trams route change Trolley Wire issue 292 February 2003 page 27
- "New Docklands Tram Line". Newsrail. Vol. 31, no. 3. Vic: ARHS Victoria Division. March 2003. p. 94. ISSN 0310-7477. OCLC 19676396.
- "City Circle Tram now extends to the Docklands Precinct". Victrip. 26 January 2003. Archived from the original on 15 April 2003.
- History of Melbourne Trams Routes from 1950 to 2009 Yarra Trams
- "City Circle Tram Extended to Melbourne's Waterfront at Docklands". Minister for Major Projects, Minister for Public Transport. 23 January 2003. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- "Flinders Street Overpass Removal". Yara Trams. 20 May 2005. Archived from the original on 23 August 2006.
- "Routes 13, 24, 30, 48, 70, 75, 86, 109, 112 & City Circle - From Monday 21 November 05". 14 November 2005. Archived from the original on 20 August 2006.
- "City Circle Tram to Run When the Sun goes Down". Premier of Victoria. 6 April 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- Yarra Trams (1 May 2009). "Media Release: Popular City Circle tram extended to Docklands Drive". www.yarratrams.com.au. Archived from the original on 25 September 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
- Tram changes Railway Digest August 2009 page 14
- to Routes 12, 30, 35, 86, 96 and 109 Public Transport Victoria
- "Tram timetable changes". PTV. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
- Melbourne – Trams Trolley Wire issue 257 May 1994 page 8
- Route 35 Public Transport Victoria
External links
Media related to City Circle Tram at Wikimedia Commons