One of our most loved Melbourne icons - our trams. When other Australian capital cities closed down their tram network between the 50's and 70's, Melbourne thankfully did not.
Did you know that Melbourne is home to the largest tram network in the world and is a major form of public transport, and has 245 km of tram tracks, 500 trams and 1,813 tram stops? That is a lot of tram stops! And has around 178 million passenger trips a year?
Here is a map of Melbourne's Tram Network
The above tram was one of the "new" trams when I was a little girl - it had nice seats with vinyl padding on them. But usually when we caught the tram, it was almost always one of the "old" ones - long timber seats down both sides, timber seats in the middle with doorways but no doors. Used to get a bit cold in winter.
This was one of the W Class trams, introduced in 1923 and below is one of the "old" ones.
I'll be doing more photos/posts about our lovable trams.
Ours are yellow. The network has been drastically reduced here because of traffic jams. Gladly, they have kept (for good I hope) a considerable number at the most typical and old parts of Lisbon.
ReplyDeleteMelbourne felt a bit like home when the trams had the same colors as we have in Helsinki: http://helsinkippusa.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/trams-at-hameentie-street/
ReplyDeleteI've never been to Melbourne but I knew from the thumbnail that it had to be a Melbourne tram. Some interesting facts here.
ReplyDeleteAh, a tram. I used to go to school by bus, tram and foot in Brisbane...a long time ago..very handy they were!
ReplyDeleteI sure wish we had them.
ReplyDeleteincredibles shots!
ReplyDeleteHow I miss trams!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your comments. Sorry for not getting back sooner. (That's what happens when you go away for 3 weeks)
ReplyDeleteJM - We solved our city traffic jams - we have "Hook" turns.
Helsinkipuss - I preferred the old green and gold colour too.
Steffe - Should you ever visit Melbourne, take the 96 tram to St, Kilda or the Number 6 - great trips both.
Annie - We used to catch trams where I grew up.
B SQUARED - Everybody should have trams.
Sonia - Thanks for that.:-)
Kris - Did you used to have trams where you are?