If you take a look the Melbourne tram network map, you’d reasonably expect that the lines drawn on it are the limits of where you can ride. But there are a number of places across Melbourne were trams can roam but passengers cannot.
Secret cross-town connections
Melbourne’s tram system is primary a radial one, with every route except for 78 and 82 running via the CBD. However, there are a handful of cross-town connections allowing trams to avoid the city.
On the northern edge of the Melbourne CBD there is a connection that doesn’t appear on the network map – 300 metres of track along Victoria Street between Swanston and Elizabeth Streets.
The link was opened in the 1920s to connect the isolated North Melbourne Electric Tramways & Lighting Company system to the rest of the system.
Today it permits the transfer of empty trams between depots for maintenance, the diversion of route 58 trams due to disruptions in the CBD, and for special trams on Anzac Day to access the Shine of Remembrance for the dawn service.
Another hidden connection is much further from the city – 580 metres of track along Miller Street in Preston. It links route 86 on High Street to route 11 along St Georges Road, via a bridge over the Mernda railway line.
The link was part of the original Fitzroy, Northcote & Preston Tramways Trust network, it was once used by passenger services but was made redundant following the conversion of cable tramways to electricity, permitting through running along High Street.
Today the connection allows trams to access Preston Workshops and East Preston depot without travelling all the way back into the city.
The appendixes of the tram network
Also not shown on the network map are a number of dead end stub tracks.
The north end of William Street at Dudley Street is one, where route 58 trams diverge into Peel Street.
Once upon a time passengers from the southern suburbs had two options to reach the city – trams via St Kilda Road and Swanston Street, or Kings Way and William Street. The latter services terminated at Dudley Street until they were withdrawn in 1986, with the sidings seeing little use since.
Spencer Street north of La Trobe Street has a single track stub.
Used as the route 75 terminus until it was relocated to Docklands, today the stub is used to turnback lunchtime extra for Bourke Street, and Grand Prix specials.
Route 12 also has a seldom used track stub – running along Mills Street towards Albert Park Beach.
It’s claim to fame – it has never been used by timetabled trams.
Sidings for special events
Trams carry passengers to many big events across Melbourne, so a number of sidings exist across the network to park extra trams ready for special event crowds to head home.
Footy fans headed home from the MCG are served by the dead end Simpson Street sidings at the end of Wellington Parade.
While tennis fans have served by the Melbourne Park tram siding on route 70 to the south.
Docklands Stadium is served by trams from the Footscray Road siding, located north of Dudley Street.
Trams to Flemington Racecourse and the Showgrounds use the Showgrounds Loop on Union Road in Ascot Vale.
The South Melbourne Football Club might have left Lakeside Oval, but South Melbourne Loop on route 12 is still there.
And raceday crowds at Caulfield Racecourse are also down, but the tram siding in the middle of Dandenong Road remains.
Tram termini and layovers
Trams can’t instantly change direction – the tram driver needs to lock up before walking down to the other cab. For this reason tram termini often have sidings to free up the ‘though’ tracks for passing trams.
Melbourne University has three dead end sidings facing south for terminating trams.
Route 12 in Richmond has a turnback outside the Victoria Gardens shopping centre.
Route 30 has a dead end siding just past the St Vincent’s Plaza tram stop.
And route 82 has a turnback siding at Moonee Ponds Junction.
The route 96 terminus at East Brunswick is a dead end, but has two sidings beyond the tram stop for trams to lay over.
As does Waterfront City in Docklands.
And finally, St Kilda Road at the Arts Centre has a short section of third track, allowing defective trams to be parked clear of other services.
Tram depots
Melbourne’s fleet of trams is housed at eight depots around the city. Each depot has an array of tracks leading into the sheds and storage roads.
Brunswick Depot has a non-passenger carrying section of track connecting it to the rest of the network.
As does Camberwell Depot.
Reconnecting dead ends
The tram network map suggests that when tram routes intersect, you need to get out and change trams to turn the corner. But if you take a look on the ground, you might see a set of connecting curves exist between the two intersecting tracks, allowing trams to weave their way across the network as they please.
Route 109 passes the northern end of route 78, 16 and 72 as it heads east to Box Hill, they aren’t necessarily a dead end for trams – curves link connects Church Street to Victoria Street.
And Cotham Road to Glenferrie Road.
The route 12 terminus in St Kilda has a connection to route 96 along Fitzroy Street.
The route 58 terminus on Toorak Road has a connection to route 16 along Glenferrie Road.
And route 78 at Balaclava has a connection to route 67 along Nepean Highway.
Connecting curves
Where tram routes cross over is another places where trams can weave their way across the network as they please – thanks to curves that allow trams to change from one street to the other.
The curves at Swanston Street and La Trobe Street, along with those at William Street and La Trobe Street, are a frequently used diversion route through the CBD for routes that normally use Swanston Street.
Curves at Nicholson Street and Victoria Street provide Bourke Street routes an alternate path through the CBD.
And those at Kings Way and Sturt Street provide a detour around St Kilda Road.
But other connections are seldom used, like those at Clarendon and Park Street in South Melbourne.
And Church and Swan Streets in Richmond.
And the granddaddy of them all – the ‘grand union’ at Balaclava Junction that allows trams from any direction to take any other directions.
Route 3, 16, and 64 trams use the junction, but only the north / west leg of the junction is used by passenger services.
A stub that is gone
The Essendon Football Ground at ‘Windy Hill’ was once served by trams, thanks to a stub along Napier Street leading north from the route 59 tracks. Essendon’s relocation to the MCG saw the siding made redundant, but the siding was not removed until 2004.
A removed connection
Once upon a time there was a 1.5 kilometre long cross-town tramway along Holden Street in North Fitzroy, until it was dismantled in the 1970s.
Constructed to link the isolated Fitzroy, Northcote & Preston Tramways Trust system to the rest of the electric network while avoiding the existing cable tramway network, this connection commenced on routes 1/6 at Lygon Street, crossing over route 96 at Nicholson Street, and headed west towards St George’s Road, where it snaked via Pilkington Street and Barkly Street to reach what is now route 11.
Conversion of the cable trams to electric rendered the connection redundant, but a shuttle service running along Holden Street continued until the 1950s.
A cross-town connection we almost got
In 2007 as part of the planning for the ‘New’ Preston Depot on St Georges Road, another cross-town tramway connection was proposed.
The connection being described as.
Track Links is new track to give connection from the Preston Depot (workshops site) to routes 96 (Nicholson Street) and routes 1/8 (Lygon Street). There are four options.
- Option A – Link down Arthurton and Blyth Streets from St. Georges Road to Lygon Street.
- Option B is a combination of A and C, ie Arthurton/Blyth Streets from St.Georges Road to Nicholson Street, and Brunswick Road from Nicholson Street to Lygon Street.
- Option C – Holden Street and Brunswick Road from St.Georges Road to Lygon Street.
- Option D – Park Street (next to old Inner Circle train line) from St.Georges Road to Lygon Street.
However it was not to be – ‘New’ Preston Depot opened in April 2016, replacing East Preston, but only housing E class trams for route 11, 86 and 96.
And a connection that isn’t there
For some reason the route 72 terminus in Burke Road isn’t connected to the route 109 tracks along Whitehorse Road.
The nearest connection to the rest of the network is 7.5 kilometres away – at Glenferrie Road and High Street in Malvern!
So what can you do with all these connections?
Back in the 1920s the ‘Shilling Tour’ tram took advantage of the little used curves, taking tourists around the eastern and south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
While in the 1990s another ‘mystery’ tour of Melbourne was launched – the route 99 “NightLink” tram running from Fitzroy to St Kilda, Chapel Street, and Richmond.
And finally, tram enthusiasts have organised their own private tours of the network, traversing the hidden cross-town connections, and stopping for photos at little used sidings.
Back in 2012 I went on a tour of the western suburbs to commemorate the closure of the Footscray tramways, in 2016 a farewell tour for B1 class trams, and a 2017 tour that tried to visit as many places called ‘park’ as possible.
Sources
- A timeline history of the Melbourne electric tramways by Don Storey
- Melbourne CBD diagram by Mal Rowe showing tram tracks, curves, crossovers and sidings.
- Destination Waterfront City: A Guide to Melbourne’s Trams by Dale Budd and Randall Wilson has a full track map of the Melbourne tram network, including cross-town connections, sidings, curves and crossovers.
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