A few things new on the trams

A decade ago route 57 was my local tram route, and one night I heard something different clattering down the road – a brand new E class tram on test.

So I got in the car and chased it down the line, snaking around the reserved track of Maribyrnong until it reached the route 82 terminus at Footscray.

A decade ago I was also still commuting to the CBD for work, when I found some brand new yellow plastic kerbing in place along the Collins Street tram tracks.

Intended to make life difficult for motorists driving over the tram tracks, they didn’t seem to deter the nuffies who drive taxis in Melbourne.

Continuing to block the tram tracks and make u-turns as they please.

A problem not addressed until 2020 when the yellow plastic strips were replaced with hard concrete ones – and reducing vehicle-to-tram collisions by around 30 per cent.

And on the trains

A decade ago a new style of door handle was first trialled on the aging Comeng trains.

Eventually rolled out to the entire fleet, but in 2024 an even more secure emergency door release system on the cusp of being rolled out – just in time for the Comeng trains to be retired!

More clueless drivers

Occasionally trams need to turn back before their usual terminus, with one of these crossovers being the Maribyrnong River crossover on Maribyrnong Road, Ascot Vale.

Unfortunately this motorist didn’t realise the tram in front wanted to come back the other way – perhaps forgivable, given it’s an infrequent occurrence.

Meanwhile this driver of a Queensland registered car didn’t know what to do on Swanston Street when the road ran out, so decided to drive along the bike lane instead.

But this taxi driver should’ve known better – the tram driver going DING DING DING but the driver still decided to sneak down the tram tracks.

And this even stupider driver deciding to driving advice from a taxi driver, and follow them.

Another ‘professional’ driver was behind the wheel of this delivery van, who also decided to drive down the Swanston Street tram stop.

But unlike all the other clueless drivers this month, they didn’t get away with it – Victoria Police officers pulled them over afterwards.

Over to Moonee Ponds

Here we see the old Moonee Ponds Junction tram stop, with route 82 passengers forced to cross multiple roads to reach the narrow ‘safety zone’ tram stop on the other side of the intersection.

The tram stop was eventually rebuilt in 2016, with route 59 and 82 trams sharing a new accessible platform stop, next to the bus interchange.

Also nearby I found a route bus operated by Moonee Valley Coaches.

They continued operating two bus routes from Moonee Ponds towards Brunswick until March 2024, when the routes were sold to much larger bus operator Dyson Group.

And Southern Cross Station

March 2014 saw some more retail outlets being added to Southern Cross Station – this time on the Bourke Street Bridge.

But the congestion on the streets around the station – zero attention being paid there!

Just Grand Prix merchandise stalls to make matters worse!

But this hoarding on the Collins Street concourse had something different hiding behind it.

A big hole with a massive cage of reinforcing bar at the bottom.

So what was it?

I didn’t find out until a few months later.

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

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Early years

The first tram routes predominately followed the main roads of Melbourne.

Image via Wikipedia

But the tramway board was responsible for more than just the tracks.

When the tramways were first laid they followed . The Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board has the obligation to construct the road along the tracks, and for 18 inches outside each outer rail, as well as to illuminate certain of the tramway routes at night.

The smooth road surface proving tempting for motorists.

Road construction and lighting have been carried out by the Board in a manner which has encouraged other wheeled traffic to follow the same route as the tramway. The result has been that vehicular traffic has become accustomed to using the tramway streets in travelling between the suburbs and city where they are connected by tram tracks.

So as early as the 1920s, sharing the road wasn’t working.

In streets on which tramways are laid, the peak vehicular traffic is coincident with the heaviest tramway loading, and only a limited use can be made of the tramway tracks owing to the frequency of trams. In the City streets, where the need for additional road space is greater. vehicular traffic is almost wholly precluded from using the space occupied by tramways.

In 1929 the Metropolitan Town Planning Commission’s ‘Plan of General Development’ report recommended trams and motor vehicles should be segregated – either by new roads.

In the majority of cases the expense and difficulty involved in widening streets in which tramways are laid would impose too great a financial strain upon the community. Although in certain cases there is no satisfactory alternative, the Commission has planned its main road proposals so as to remove, as far as possible, the “through” vehicular traffic from the tramline streets. A system based on these lines will considerably relieve the congestion on these routes because it will leave the tramline streets principally for tramway services and local and business traffic.

Physical separation.

Where tramways are located or are proposed in streets of 99 feet width or more, excepting in the City business area, the Commission considers that the tramway should be given the exclusive use of its track and separated from other traffic by lawns or plantations. In addition to segregating the traffic, the plantations provide continuous safety zones, thus permitting safer and faster movement of all traffic along the road and for pedestrians crossing it. Incidentally, tramway track construction and maintenance will be less costly.

In many cases in its recommendations which follow, the Commission has adopted a width of 100 feet for main roads in order that future development along these routes, other than in the city proper, shall be so guided as to permit of the parking of the existing or probable future tramway.

Or parking restrictions.

The fact that the great bulk of the “peak” hours traffic in the morning is inward to the central business area and outward during the afternoon, offers an excellent measure of lief in congested streets by temporary prohibition of parking on the particular side of the street on which this volume of traffic is passing. The extra lane thus made available, especially in the case of tramline streets. would increase the efficiency and capacity of those streets in which a prohibition operated.

But in the years that followed, little progress was made on this front.

Weston Langford photo

Finally – some action

It took until 1970s for the first moves to separate road vehicles from the tram tracks.

The Board’s early 1970s reports urged traffic segregation and complained that it’s vehicles were severely hampered by motor traffic.

The established “vicious circle” of longer journey time, slower trip, unhappy passengers, more crews doing less work, greater cost, fare increase, less passengers, etc., was officially highlighted again.

Painted lines being the first attempt.

The Board endeavoured to speed its tram services by painting clearance lines along most of its trackage. A withdrawn passenger tram was fitted with spray painting equipment and has marked most of the system, commencing in 1973. Although reasonably effective, some motorists do not heed these lines, and the only truly satisfactory solution is physical separation.

Using a dedicated tram.

MMTB photo

Followed by an attempt at physical separation of trams along Bridge Road in Richmond, only to be rejected.

During the reconstruction of tram tracks in the very wide thoroughfare of Bridge Road, Richmond, during April to June 1975, the Richmond City Council refused to allow the Tramways Board to place low profile kerbing adjacent to the new tracks to create a reserved right of way for the trams.

Despite the road being wide east of Church Street.

The volume of citybound trams using it.

And the number of motorists u-turning over the tracks.

But the tramways board had more success on route 96.

Permitted to install physical separation – but only on one side of the street!

Fitzroy Council agreed to allow the Board to place low profile kerbing along Nicholson Street, along the eastern tram track, from Victoria Parade to Alexandra Parade, on a trial basis. Nicholson Street is the municipal boundary and Melbourne City Council refused permission for like treatment along the western tram track.

The kerbing was installed during October and November 1975, with safety zones at all stops, and have proved successful. Road traffic has not been hindered and tram running times have improved considerably, especially at key intersections.

Early in 1978 the project was extended northwards to Park Street, North Fitzroy, while the MCC relented somewhat to allow the section from Victoria Parade to Alexandra Parade to be fitted with jiggle bars along the western track. Safety zones were also incorporated into both of these extensions.

These half done concrete kerbs were still visible decades later.

Until the 2018 rebuild of Nicholson Street saw taller kerbs provided on both sides of the track.

Tram ‘Fairways’

In 1983 the ‘Fairway’ program was launched to speed up trams.

Which featured a package of upgrades.

• separation of trams from other vehicles on a full or part time basis using lanemarkings and signs,
• tram activated phases at traffic signals,
• minor road widening to provide safety zones at tram stops,
• changes to Road Traffic Regulations to give preference to trams over other vehicles .

Seen as a cheaper solution to speed up trams, given the lack of success implementing physical segregation.

The RTA Fairway project is a conscious departure from the more traditional traffic management techniques and seeks to develop and implement low cost, innovative measures that assist tram operations at high delay sites. The requirement that Fairway treatments are low cost is based on the fact that as the major proportion of the tram network is located in the older, established
inner and middle suburbs of Melbourne, opportunities for larger scale improvements are generally not economically justified nor socially and environmentally acceptable.

The most visible change being yellow lines along major roads, indicating that motor vehicles cannot enter or turn across the tram tracks.

Which were surprisingly successful, given it was just paint.

The Fairway on the North Balwyn Route has been a qualified success given that details of traffic volumes and any redistribution of traffic along the route have not yet been analysed.

Average journey times during the AM peak period have reduced from 36.6 minutes to 34.6 minutes (i.e. 5.5% reduction). More importantly for tram operations, variations in running times have reduced by 20%, and Average Maximum times have reduced from 44.9 minutes to 39.8 minutes.

Into the modern era

You’d think speeding up trams would be a high priority – but it isn’t.

Consider this irrationality. About 200,000 passengers a day catch a tram along St Kilda Road. That’s about as many people as drive over the West Gate Bridge each day.

If there’s an accident on the bridge and the freeway is blocked for a few hours, politicians and commentators line up to argue that we urgently need to spend a lazy $18 billion on another east-west freeway.

And yet the city’s busiest tram corridor doesn’t even have enough separation with general traffic to stop a delivery van driver shutting the whole thing down by doing an ill-timed U-turn in front of a moving tram.

It took until 2011 for something to happen, thanks to the renewal of aging tram tracks along Spencer Street.

Over the Easter and ANZAC Day long weekend Yarra Trams replaced 740 metres of double track along Spencer Street between La Trobe Street and Flinders Street and on the Spencer Street Bridge.

The project renewed tracks which had first been installed in 1951 and introduced measures providing segregation between trams and traffic to improve safety and tram service reliability along one of the busiest sections of Melbourne’s tram network.

The new tracks were raised above the roadway.

Leading to a massive drop in the number of collisions.

There were 11 tram-on-car collisions on Spencer Street last financial year between Bourke and Collins streets, compared with 76 in the three previous years. ”It’s been very effective on Spencer Street,” said Clement Michel, Yarra Trams’ chief executive.

But unfortunately they’re not enough to stop determined dumbarses from driving over the top.

Rebuilding tram tracks is expensive, so in 2014 Yarra Trams tried something cheaper – bolting down yellow plastic kerbing beside the Collins Street tram tracks.

In an attempt to fix the worst street in Melbourne for tram to vehicle collisions.

Collins Street has had raised safety kerbs installed in an effort to increase safety by improving separation between motorists and trams.

Yarra Trams and Public Transport Victoria has installed the bright yellow kerbs along Collins Street, with the work completed two weeks ahead of schedule to be finished before the Grand Prix.

At the launch of its ‘Drivers Beware’ rhino safety campaign last year, Yarra Trams data showed that spots on Collins Street near the intersections at Elizabeth, Russell and Spencer streets were among the top 10 locations for tram to vehicle collisions.

Data recorded in the first month after the campaign launch showed a 19 per cent reduction in the number of tram to vehicle collisions on the network compared to the same period in 2012.

The network wide trend shows a reduction in collisions since 2010, but an increase in the proportion of incidents occurring in Collins Street.

The most common causes of collisions, which the raised kerbs aim to eliminate, are motorists performing U-turns or right turns in front of trams.

The new safety kerb, which is 50mm high and 350mm wide, will improve the safety and reliability of trams by deterring motorists from illegally driving across the middle of the road into the path of trams.

The statistics being quite shocking.

Year	Total tram to vehicle collisions	In Collins Street	Percentage in Collins Street
2008	944	44	4.66
2009	905	38	4.20
2010	836	54	6.46
2011	983	48	4.88
2012	892	49	5.49
2013	844	49	5.81
2014	162	6	3.70

To 8 March 2014

But at 50mm high and 350mm wide, the new kerbs didn’t have much success with deterring taxi drivers from making u-turns across the tracks.

Using the tracks to overtake stopped vehicles.

Or just generally blocking up the whole joint.

And if the kerbs come loose – they can derail trams.

On Friday 11 May 2018, early in the morning, a tram was being transported out of service from Essendon Depot to Brunswick Depot. As it travelled outbound in Sydney Road at Moreland Road, the tram derailed as it was turning left into Moreland Road.

The morning of 11 May had been wet, with 18.6 millimetres of rainfall recorded. The investigation found that a yellow plastic dividing strip, presumably dislodged by a passing vehicle, had been washed onto the tram track and become submerged in water. The strip subsequently became wedged in the front bogie.

Yellow plastic strips are frequently dislodged on the network, with our Track Maintenance Crew collecting on average one or two strips a day to return to the road authority.

Under the Road Management Act Code of Practice for operational responsibility for public roads(dated May 2017), the maintenance of plastic dividing strips is in most cases a duty of the relevant responsible road authority, typically the Department of Transport or local government, because they are constructed separately from the tram tracks.

So in 2015 tougher bluestone kerbing was installed at the Docklands end of Collins Street between Spencer Street and the Victoria Harbour tram terminus, at a cost of $316,000.

One street down, how many to go?

And a way forward

After decades of attempts at segregating trams from traffic, in 2016 Yarra Trams reported they had discovered a way to accelerate the process.

Improving tram priority and fully separating trams from other traffic are considered to be critical elements in moving the tram system to a modern light rail service so that it becomes the best way to move around the inner suburbs of Melbourne.

Recognition and acknowledgement of the importance of taking opportunities for the reallocation of road space to prioritise public transport movement and access is particularly relevant to tram track renewal works.

Using the example of the Spencer Street track renewal.

A large and established tram network such as Melbourne’s has an ongoing series of infrastructure renewal works taking place in order to maintain our assets to the latest standards necessary. These infrastructure renewal programs as well as other internal and external upgrade projects present potential opportunities to enhance and upgrade the operating environment to assist with its envisaged transformation.

Identifying opportunities for either undertaking network improvements as part of track renewal works or implementing changes to assist with achieving desired outcomes at a later date is a key opportunity that has been progressed where possible.

The primary opportunities associated with track renewal include consideration of improving tram right of way by achieving effective physical separation from vehicle traffic where road conditions allow. This could either be by raising the vertical level of tram tracks higher than adjacent roadway carrying traffic or by installation of other effective separation measures such as barrier kerbing or bollards.

Recent completed examples of this approach and application include Spencer Street and Fitzroy Street track works where tram tracks were raised by 120-150mm and established a significantly enhance tram right of way; separated from conflicts and delays caused by traffic which was previous able to encroach onto the tram track.

The recent rebuild of the tram tracks along William Street is another example of this new philosophy.

And in 2018 Yarra Trams completed a business case for the rollout of concrete kerbs across the network.

Trams would be protected by raised kerbs on either side of tracks under a $42 million proposal to decrease the number of collisions between cars and trams.

Concrete and bluestone kerbing could be installed on tram tracks along busy CBD streets and inner-city arterials, blocking motorists from crossing the tracks.

About 38km of track have been identified as suitable for greater separation in a business case commissioned by Yarra Trams. The business case by GHD Advisory found the rollout would cost $42.7 million. Maintenance of the kerbs would cost $5000 per year compared with $17,000 for the plastic yellow strips that now separate tram tracks from cars.

The business case was included in a Yarra Trams submission to a Victorian parliamentary inquiry investigating ways to reduce the amount of fatalities on the state’s roads.

Trams and cars have collided about 1000 times for every one of the past five years, at an average of three incidents every day.

Yarra Trams said about 10 trams were out of action and under repair each day due to crashes with cars, meaning a reduction in incidents could improve reliability on the network by keeping more trams in service.

More than 95 per cent of tram accidents are caused by motorists. The most common manoeuvres that led to accidents are drivers performing U-turns across tracks, the sudden stopping of vehicles on tracks and cars driving over tracks to get around parked cars or stopped traffic.

Tram crashes decreased by 25 per cent when hard kerbing was installed on Docklands tram routes.

The business case proposing segregation of the following sections of tramway.

Route 96
• Nicholson St segment (Terminus to Gertrude St)
• Bourke St (Spencer St to Spring St)
• Nicholson St (Bourke St to Victoria St)
• St Kilda segment (Fitzroy St to Acland St)

Collins St
• St Vincents Plaza to Spring St
• Spring St to Spencer St

Elizabeth St
• Flinders St to Queen Victoria Market
• Queen Victoria Market to Haymarket
• Haymarket to Flemington Rd/Abbotsford St
• Haymarket to Flemington Rd/Racecourse Rd
• Haymarket to Royal Pde/Brunswick Rd

La Trobe St
• Docklands (Harbour Esp to Spencer St)
• CBD (Spencer St to Victoria St)

William St
• Flinders St to Dudley St

Racecourse Rd
• Flemington Rd to Ascot Vale Rd

Bridge Rd
• Church St to River St

Flinders St
• Spring St to Exhibition St
• Exhibition St to Spencer St

St Kilda Rd
• Federation Square to St Kilda Junction

Commercial Rd
• St Kilda Rd to Punt Rd

Clarendon St
• Whiteman St to Market St

Other short segments:
• Epsom Rd
• Sturt St
• Danks St
• Route 57 (through North Melbourne)
• Westgarth (Merri Creek Bridge)
• Wellington Pde
• Brighton Rd
• Fitzroy St
• Smith St, Caulfield
• Burwood Hwy
• Sydney Rd (north of Bell St)
• Clarendon St south and Canterbury Rd

Almost a hundred years since the issue was first identified, and yet we’re still waiting.

Sources

• Metropolitan Town Planning Commission Plan of General Development (1929)
• K.S. Kings 60 Years of the M&MTB (April 1980)
• D.J. Howie and K.F. Daley Managing road space in Melbourne – the fairway system (1984)
• M.R. Daff and W.H. Saggers Spatial segregation of trams in Melbourne (1984)
• K.F. Daley Public Transport and Traffic Engineering (1987)
• Yarra Trams Separation and Tram Safety – Detailed Report (December 2019)
• Yarra Trams Tram Lane Upgrade – Preliminary Business Case (November 2018)

Footnote – painting the lines

The linemarking tram was W2.233 – converted for the job in 1973, having been retired from normal services in 1970.

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So why do trams supposedly timetabled an even distance apart end up running up against each other?

The usual cause is the tram in front getting a bad run, which results in it getting progressively more delayed as passengers try to cram on board, while the tram behind makes up time because nobody is waiting for it.

Melbourne’s route 58 commonly suffers from trams getting bunched up, which was flagged a few years ago as a reason behind the route being one of the most overcrowded in Melbourne.

However, tram load breaches are caused more by tram reliability than tram capacity, according to Tony Morton, the Public Transport Users Association president.

“Route 55 trams are meant to be running about every four minutes in morning peak and there are on a regular basis delays of up to 10 minutes between trams,” Dr Morton said.

“So the tram that comes after 10 minutes has more than twice as many people on it as there would be if the tram route was able to operate according to a schedule.”

Seeing a pair of route 58 trams following themselves down William Street is a common sight in morning peak.

But sometimes you’ll have a 15 minute gap.

As the crowds of waiting passengers grow.

Time continues ticking.

Until three of them appear at once.

Great.

Footnote

This animation from the New York MTA shows how a single delayed train can cause delays throughout an entire subway line.

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Today the challenge is to keep services moving despite increasing traffic congestion, carrying more passengers than ever before, while meeting new accessible transport standards. This is difficult activity given no two parts of the network are the same – so how can the Melbourne tram network be categorised by the environment they runs through?

Exploring the network

Melbourne trams pass through the CBD streets, stuck at traffic lights and mixing it with clueless motorists performing u-turns over the tracks.

They run down the middle of roads on the edge of the city, separated from cars.

Along tree lined boulevards.

They run though suburban shopping strips.

Pedestrians darting between shops.

Lined with parked cars.

With a single stopped car enough to delay multiple trams.

They trundle along residential streets.

But cars are never far away.

Other streets are lined with car yards and other ‘big box’ type retail outlets.

On rare occasions the tram tracks leave the road, running alongside the road.

But running in the median strip is more common.

Sometimes trees give way to concrete.

But trams still don’t have right of way at traffic lights.

The sole exception being the former railway lines to Port Melbourne and St Kilda.

Where the service is more ‘train’ than ‘tram’.

Classifying the network

Thankfully I didn’t need to explore the entire Melbourne tram network to classify the environments that it passes through – this 2008 report by SKM Maunsell/Evans & Peck did all of the work for me, with figure 2.20.

The legend is as follows:

• Mix – shared on-street with other vehicles in mixed (residential, retail, commercial etc.) land use environment (eg. Commercial Road, Keilor Road, Droop Street)
• Shopping strip – shared on-street with other vehicles in shopping strip (eg. Chapel Street, Glenhuntly Road, Sydney Road)
• Residential – shared on-street with other vehicles in residential area (eg. Riversdale Road, Hawthorn Road, Melville Road)
• Residential right of way – segregated track in road median in residential area (eg. St. Georges Road, Dandenong Road, Victoria Parade)
• Priority light rail – grade-separated segregated track in former heavy rail reserve (eg. St. Kilda, Port Melbourne lines)
• Light rail – segregated track in road reserve or parkland (eg. Plenty Road, Burwood Highway, Royal Park)
• CBD – right of way in centre of road in CBD
• Boulevard – right of way in centre of road (St. Kilda Road, Royal Parade, Flemington Road)

Problems – we’ve got loads

The report details the challenges facing the Melbourne tram network.

Tram stops are located at varying spacing along each route. Most stop intervals are between 200 and 500 metres, but in places they are less than 200 metres. Close stop spacing generally increases access to the system but reduces the average speed of the service, reducing the attractiveness of tram travel for passengers.

Most tram stops are not DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) compliant, although there is a program of platform stop implementation underway. DDA compliant stops provide level boarding, enabling easy access for everyone, including wheelchair users and mobility impaired passengers. Furthermore, platform stops are more popular with passengers on account of the improved access, safety and amenity afforded. Monitoring studies have found that stop dwell times have been reduced owing to quicker boarding and alighting times for passengers resulting from the removal of stepped access.

The tram rolling stock which currently serves the network varies widely in performance and capacity.

Service speeds are slow by world standards mainly because of the large proportion of shared running with other vehicles. Speeds average 16km/hr across the network, slowing to an average speed of 11km/hr in the CBD. The segregated sections of track achieve about 25km/hr, however this represents only a small portion of the network.

Reliability is a key issue for tram operations. The high degree of shared running with other road vehicles gives rise to many delays, which can be attributed to traffic signals or obstruction by other vehicles. Traffic congestion accounts for about 40% of tram running time. Modelling undertaken for DOI suggests that unless substantial improvements are made to tram priority and operation in the roads, tram speeds could fall by at least a further 8% by 2020 as a result of increasing road congestion. Tram operating costs will correspondingly increase.

As the tram network shares the road with other traffic, considerable delays to tram services are experienced where the demand for road space is high. These delays are exacerbated by the lengthy signal delays encountered at intersections crossing Alexandra Parade and Victoria Street.

But also details how a quality tram service builds patronage.

Work completed by the Department of Infrastructure highlighted that Route 96 along Nicholson Street has the highest patronage, possibly due to the fact that it offers the best relative journey times to the car in the corridor it serves, has a degree of separation from traffic and has rolling stock with greater passenger capacity.

Smith Street and Brunswick Street have lower tram speeds, reflecting the interaction and conflicts with traffic due to parking and right turning vehicles. However services using these routes have very high levels of patronage, suggesting that a substantial proportion of the people-moving task on these roads is performed by trams. Any works which assist in reducing the tram travel time on these roads would attract even more passengers.

And the moves being made in 2008 towards improving the system.

The ‘Think Tram’ initiative being managed by VicRoads involves the implementation of a series of priority measures across the tram network, with a stated aim of increasing tram service speeds. Measures include the implementation of physical separation devices, part time tram lanes, ‘T’ lights at intersections and traffic signal re-phasing. Recent part time tram lanes and associated signs have been installed in Fitzroy (Smith Street, Brunswick Street) and Balwyn (High Street, Doncaster Road).

The Think Tram program has had some success in giving trams greater priority; at a minimum it has enabled trams to maintain their travel times relative to growth in traffic congestion, as opposed to reducing travel times. The application of ITS technologies and the positive separation of tramway right-of-way from other road users, especially right turning vehicles, appear to offer the best solutions

A decade later, and unfortunately little has changed – the new low floor E class trams have allowed the retirement of a handful of remaining high floor W and Z1/Z2 class trams, and the rollout of platform stops across the network is slowly progressing, but improving tram priority is still in the ‘too hard’ basket.

Footnote

The report I’ve quoted above is titled East West Needs Study: Transport Supply and Demand and was completed in 2008 report by SKM Maunsell/Evans & Peck. From the report preface.

The Victorian Government has appointed Sir Rod Eddington to lead a study into the need for an East-West Transport Link. The East-West Link Study Team supporting Sir Rod has commissioned Sinclair Knight Merz- Maunsell to undertake the Transport Planning Study forming part of the East-West Link Needs Assessment.

The purpose of the Transport Planning Study is to carry out a strategic evaluation of the existing and future mobility constraints for travel between the east and west of Melbourne and identify opportunities for a range of options to address future travel requirements.

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We start at 2:21:06 PM – a St Kilda bound route 96 tram has disgorged a full load of passengers, who have filled the narrow walkway leading towards Southern Cross Station.

There are no cars driving down Spencer Street, yet both the tram and departing passengers still have to wait.

40 seconds later, and the tram finally gets a green light to turn from Bourke into Spencer Street.

It takes the tail end of the tram 10 seconds to clear the intersection, but the passengers are still waiting.

Now over a minute has passed since the passengers left them tram, and the pedestrian lights finally turn green, allowing passengers to leave the tram stop.

Note that for anyone bound for Southern Cross Station, after crossing Bourke Street, there will be a second wait for the pedestrian lights to cross Spencer Street!

If there is a location in Melbourne that needs a scramble crossing, then the corner of Bourke and Spencer Street is it.

Don’t believe me?

Just to prove how pedestrian-hostile the corner of Bourke and Spencer Streets is, here are a few more photos.

Note that once the narrow walkway gets filled with departing tram passengers, it is impossible for any intending passengers to reach the tram stop.

In addition, waiting pedestrians overflow the west end of the path, and have to squeeze out of the way of turning route 96 trams.

Woefully inadequate for a main entrance to the Melbourne CBD, isn’t it?

2018 update

In 2018 VicRoads announced that a raised pedestrian crossing would be added halfway along the westbound tram stop. Works began in February 2018 and was expected to be completed by July 2018.

However the crossing sat unused for months, a fence blocking access.

Eventually opening for use in March 2019.

Further reading

In January 2012 the City of Melbourne commissioned a report titled ‘CBD Pedestrian Congestion and Public Transport Access‘ – inside it details the growing congestion that faces pedestrians accessing public transport in the Melbourne CBD, and how it can be addressed.

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An interesting setup can be found on Queensbridge Street in Southbank – trams and buses share the concrete covered tracks that run along the centre of the road, away from pesky cars.

In addition buses and trams share a stop outside Crown Casino, allowing intending passengers to flag down whatever vehicle is next to arrive.

A similar intermodal transfer facility can be found at the Clifton Hill interchange, where route 86 trams share the centre of Queens Parade with a number of different bus routes.

It raises the question – why doesn’t this appear more often in Melbourne?

In 2003 Andrew Somers published a paper titled Improving Utilisation of Existing Public Transport Infrastructure by Allowing Bus Access to Tram Rights-of-way, which looked into the infrastructure issues faced. Some relevant points include:

Track Bed

Tram tracks in Melbourne can be broken into three categories – part of the road pavement, separate ROW with tracks laid in mass concrete, separate ROW with tracks mounted on sleepers on ballast. The first two of these categories can support bus operations, ballasted track requires relaying in mass concrete at significant cost.

Overhead Power Poles

Experience on Burwood Highway has shown that unprotected central poles
pose a hazard for buses. This setup is found on much of the reserved track in Melbourne. The issue is one of horizontal clearances – although the trams are slightly wider (around 150mm) than buses, they have the advantage of a fixed guidance system.

The collision risk is anticipated to be lower at lower speeds and on straight sections of track; curved track at higher speeds would therefore require further increased clearances. Additional space may be able to be provided by widening the pavement to the left, avoiding the need to relocate poles

Stop Design

Two issues emerge with the design of existing tram stops – horizontal clearances and the platform height at the new Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) compliant superstops. Experience from bus operators indicates that
the high level of the platforms (around 300mm compared to standard 150mm kerb) causes problems as the buses are designed to load wheelchairs from standard height kerb (through kneeling).

Horizontal clearances also pose a potential problem for buses using existing tram stops. Although buses are marginally narrower than the trams in use in Melbourne, manual guidance by drivers is not as precise as track guidance for trams.

Maintenance Agreements

Introducing buses to existing light rail infrastructure changes the maintenance requirements for that infrastructure. The institutional framework and particularly the system of payments to public transport operators in Melbourne complicates this, by emphasising the importance of determining who is responsible for cost of maintenance or repairs, both scheduled and emergency.

Entry/Egress to/from ROW

Buses using tram lanes need to be able to enter and exit the area safely and without significant delay. In addition, it is important that the entry
point reinforces that only authorised vehicles may use the tram ROW.

Delineation

A recurrent issue in the stakeholder interviews was a feeling that car drivers view buses as a part of mixed traffic – this makes delineation of tram lanes critical for any application of joint operations. Cars mistakenly or deliberately following buses into tram lanes will lead to delays to public transport and an increased risk of collisions.

The paper also mentions the current operating rules relating to the shared tram-bus lane on Queensbridge Street.

• Buses are not to exceed 30km/h
• Trams have priority over buses
• Buses must not exceed 8km/h through safety zones (stop areas)
• Buses may use the signal phase provided by the T light (also provided for in the road rules)

There are also rules which detail safe following distances, interestingly the bus operator did not have these to hand, indicating perhaps that this operating regime was necessary to have joint operations approved and is not so important in day to day operations.

The paper acknowledges that Melbourne’s buses are treated as third-class citizens.

Generally in Melbourne, trams get a higher level of special treatment over mixed traffic than that which is offered to buses. This situation is reflected in the attitudes of the operators – the tram operators have previously gained benefits that they wish to guard (and build improvements upon) whereas the buses are looking to gain any improvements, off a generally low base

And finally addresses what might be the biggest barrier to mixing trams and buses – the institutional framework that governs public transport:

Traditionally the attitude of those involved in public transport in Melbourne has been to view the modes as separate, with buses and trams being potential competitors. This is being partly addressed through attention being focussed on integrated transport solutions, however the contractual framework and institutional structures act as a brake on this attitude change.

Shiny new stickers will never fix that problem!

Missed opportunities

Andrew Somers also lists a number of missed tram-bus opportunities in his paper:

A recent example of a failure to take account of buses in tram infrastructure design is the Exhibition Street extension. The Department of Infrastructure noted that during the construction phase, the rerouting of Bus 605 down the tram right of way was investigated and found unfeasible due to incompatible infrastructure.

Proposals for joint operations as part of both the Box Hill and Vermont South tram extensions were floated but not pursued.

And an update

In May 2015 the tram tracks on Queensbridge Street were rebuilt, with a new platform stop built outside Crown Casino. Trams have no trouble using it.

And neither do buses.

Which proves that there aren’t any technical reasons shared tram-bus lanes could not be created elsewhere in Melbourne.

Further reading

• Improving Utilisation of Existing Public Transport Infrastructure by Allowing Bus Access to Tram Rights-of-way, Andrew Somers, 2003

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At present attempts at tram priority in Melbourne are half hearted – usually just a ‘head start’ green phase for trams before the right turn arrow kicks in.

The ‘head start’ is implemented with a white ‘T’ aspect on the traffic signals, which applies only to trams.

These ‘T’ lights can be found at many traffic lights around Melbourne, but their usefulness is dubious – some intersections use the ‘T’ lights to prevent trams from proceeding, and instead prioritise right turning cars!

As for the upcoming tram priority trials, the Herald Sun article has this to say:

Plan to allow trams to move through intersections before cars
Aleks Devic
January 17, 2015

Trams would be given the green light to go through intersections before cars under a plan to improve traffic flow and safety on shared roads.

VicRoads is also working with Public Transport Victoria and Yarra Trams to trial tram priority on three key routes.

The trials will occur on Balaclava Rd between Normanby Rd and Nepean Highway; Dandenong Rd from Chapel St to Glenferrie Rd/Hawthorn Rd, and; Nicholson St between Blyth and Bourke streets.

VicRoads acting road operations director Keith Weegberg said full-time and part-time tram lanes and platform stops were also being implemented.

“Many tram routes, as well as key bus and cycling routes, have signal phases that allow them to travel before cars with the aim of improving traffic flow, ensuring the safety of all road users and giving public transport priority,” Mr Weegberg said.

The reasoning for yet another trial being carried out isn’t given, which is strange given tram priority trials were carried out on Nicholson Street back in November 2011. The Yarra Trams media release at the time had this to say.

Important timetable information

One of the most effective ways to improve tram service reliability and network capacity is to improve tram signal priority. Currently, Melbourne’s trams spend more time stopped at traffic lights than most other tram networks in the world.

On Tuesday 15, Wednesday 16, Thursday 17, Tuesday 22, Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 November, we will be testing tram priority along Nicholson Street.

What does this mean for passengers on Route 96?

On these days, trams will not run to the timetable along the length of Route 96. Frequency of service will remain unchanged but tram arrival times may differ from the schedule displayed at the stops.

Yarra Trams apologises for any increased waiting times associated with the trial which is a key step towards improving your tram service on Route 96.

You can always find out when your tram is coming in real-time with tramTRACKER®.

The November 2011 trial was also covered by Channel 9 news, who detailed how VicRoads controllers remotely operated traffic signals to give trams a clear run through intersections.

Both the Yarra Trams media release and the Channel 9 report stated that the results of the trial would be released in the coming months, but I haven’t been able to find anything of the sort.

So what will come out of these upcoming trials on Balaclava Road, Dandenong Road and Nicholson Street – faster trams on Melbourne’s streets, or just another report that never sees the light of day?

Footnote

In April 2011 The Age obtained a Department of Transport report on tram speed following a Freedom of Information request:

Tram jam: Melbourne’s car glut puts the brakes on public transport
Clay Lucas
April 21, 2011

Melbourne’s trams are slowing to a crawl, stuck in traffic as car numbers on the state’s roads soar by 100,000 a year, according to a report written by Yarra Trams and handed to the Baillieu government days after it won office.

With the number of people catching the tram growing by 50 per cent over the past decade, there has been a ”rapid deterioration of travel speed”, the report says – with trams now travelling 15 per cent slower than in 1999.

Melbourne has the world’s longest tram network – 250 kilometres – but it is also one of the slowest, with an average speed of just 16km/h as trams spend more than 17 per cent of their journey time stopped at traffic lights.

If Melbourne followed the boldest international examples, tram travel times would be slashed by up to 30 per cent, the the Tram Priority report says.

I wonder how much slower Melbourne’s trams have become since 2011.

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The stops

Currently Yarra Trams is rebuilding the tram stops at the south end of Elizabeth Street, replacing the former ‘safety zones’ with new platform stops that occupy a full city block each.

Once the work is completed later this month, the list of stops used by route 59 trams along Elizabeth Street and Flemington Road will be as follows:

• Stop 1: Flinders Street
• Collins Street
• Stop 2: Collins Street
• Bourke Street
• Stop 3: Bourke Street
• Lonsdale Street
• Little Lonsdale Street
• Stop 5: La Trobe Street
• A’Beckett Street
• Franklin Street
• Therry Street
• Stop 7: Queen Victoria Market (Victoria Street)
• Queensberry Street
• Stop 9: Haymarket (Royal Parade)
• Haymarket roundabout
• Stop 14: Grattan Street
• Royal Melbourne Hospital entrance
• Stop 15: Park Drive
• Stop 16: Gatehouse Street
• Royal Children’s Hospital entrance
• Stop 19: Royal Children’s Hospital (Abbotsford Street)
• Stop 20: Melrose Street
• Stop 21: Racecourse Road

All up that is 12 tram stops, as well as 21 sets of traffic lights. Note how the stop numbers jump around!

To explain the gaps in tram stop numbers, I consulted the Edition 27 of the Melway (dated 2000) which gave me the following list of tram stops.

• Stop 1: Flinders Street (Flinders Lane)
• Stop 2: Collins Street
• Little Collins Street
• Stop 3: Bourke Street
• Little Bourke Street
• Stop 4: Lonsdale Street
• Little Lonsdale Street
• Stop 5: La Trobe Street
• A’Beckett Street
• Stop 6: Franklin Street
• Therry Street
• Stop 7: Queen Victoria Market (Victoria Street)
• Stop 8: Queensberry Street
• Stop 9: Haymarket (Royal Parade)
• Stop 13: Peel Street (southbound only)
• Stop 14: Grattan Street
• Royal Melbourne Hospital entrance
• Stop 15: Park Drive
• Stop 16: Gatehouse Street
• Stop 17: Royal Children’s Hospital
• Stop 19: Abbotsford Street Interchange
• Stop 20: Melrose Street
• Stop 21: Racecourse Road

So a decade ago there were five more tram stops and three fewer sets of traffic lights encountered by route 57 trams.

What happened?

Some inconsistencies in tram stop numbering can be easily explained: stops 10, 11 and 12 never existed, the gap due to route 55 joining route 59 at Peel Street. Stop 18 is also missing from the 2000 list: presumably it was eliminated before that time.

Stop 4 at Lonsdale Street is a victim of the present program of work on Elizabeth Street,due to it being a short walk from the new stops a block south at Bourke and Little Bourke Street, or a block north at Little Lonsdale and Lonsdale Street. A side effect is the removal of the interchange between Elizabeth Street trams and the SmartBus services towards Doncaster – the same change was made to Swanston Street last year.

Further along the line, we start to find large gaps between tram stops. The removal of stop 6 at Franklin Street a more difficult one to justify, forcing passengers to walk two blocks north to the Queen Victoria Market, or two blocks south to La Trobe Street. The original safety zones at the site were located a reasonable distance from the neighbouring stops: presumably building a platform stop there was canned as traffic lanes would be lost.

Competing demands on road space also killed stop 8 at Queensberry Street: it was removed as part of the VicRoads managed rebuilding of the Haymarket roundabout. The rebuilding of the Haymarket roundabout was also responsible for the two new sets of traffic lights: one at the entry to the central island, and a separate out-of-phase set on the exit.

Another oddity in tram stop spacing is between Park Drive and the Abbotsford Street Interchange, and is a result of the rebuilding of the Royal Children’s Hospital: stop 17 outside the former entrance was removed a few years ago, replaced by an upgraded platform stop down the road at stop 19. For the similar reasons stop 16 at Gatehouse Street is probably on death row: still just a safety zone with Flemington Road’s right turns lanes adjacent, there isn’t enough room to build a new platform here.

So trams are now faster eh?

One would think by removing stops, trams would now being able to travel faster along Elizabeth Street and Racecourse Road. On that front, you are wrong: every single set of traffic lights along the way appears to be configured to do the opposite. Here is an example at the removed Franklin Street tram stop:

If it isn’t bad enough for to roll up to a set of traffic lights and need to wait, this tram copped it even worse – the traffic lights change to red right in front of it.

The most obvious fix is traffic light priority – but we’ve been asking for that for a long time.

Further reading

• Myth: The purpose of tram priority is to stop trams running late from the PTUA
• Myth: Tram passengers benefit from fewer tram stops from the PTUA
• Observational analysis of tram delays in inner Melbourne from the PTUA

Notes

Stop 1 is the Sir Robert Risson terminus: rebuilding of this stop is still to come.

Stops 2, 3 and 5 have been just rebuilt as platform stops.

Stop 4 at Lonsdale Street is about to closed.

Stop 6 at Franklin Street has been eliminated, forcing passengers to walk north to the Queen Victoria Market, or south to La Trobe Street.

Stop 7 at the Queen Victoria Market was rebuilt as a platform stop in 2007.

Stop 8 at Queensberry Street was removed in 2011 as part of the rebuilding of the Haymarket roundabout, forcing passengers to walk a block north to Royal Parade, or south to the Queen Victoria Market.

Stop 9 was rebuilt as a platform stop at the same time two sets of traffic lights replaced the Haymarket roundabout.

Stop 13 at Peel Street also also removed as part of the rebuilding of the Haymarket roundabout.

Stop 14 at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and stop 15 at Park Drive were rebuilt as platform stops around 2008.

Stop 16 at Gatehouse Street still remains as a safety zone, but is probably on the kill list due to the proximity of the Park Drive stop.

Stop 17 at the Royal Children’s Hospital was removed in 2011, at the same time as the new platform being opened at stop 19.

Stop 20 at Melrose Street is still a safety zone, and will require road lanes to be removed if a platform stop was built.

Stop 21 at Racecourse Road is also a safety zone, and would probably get killed off due to the proximity of the existing platform at stop 22, Boundary Road.

Footnote

Between writing this piece and publishing it, Yarra Trams have announced the death of stop 21 at Racecourse Road:

Since the introduction of Stop 21 Flemington Road and Racecourse Road, safety requirements for tram stops have changed.

Yarra Trams is committed to ensuring the safety of its passengers.

A recent review by Yarra Trams has concluded that this stop should be closed permanently in both directions, effective from Sunday, 24 November 2013.

Routes 57 and 59 – Stop 21 Racecourse Road and Flemington Road will close permanently in both directions.

Passengers can catch trams from Stop 20 Melrose Street and Stop 22 Flemington Road.

Another one bites the dust.

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Closed from 22 May 2013, Yarra Trams gave the following explanation for the closure:

A recent review by Yarra Trams and Public Transport Victoria of the environment and layout at these stops has identified an increased safety risk to passengers and pedestrians. A number of improvement strategies have been trialled with minimal success. Yarra Trams is committed to ensuring the safety of its passengers and has therefore decided to close these stops permanently.

Here is the stop before it was removed.

Congestion from passengers wanting to board trams bound for the City Centre must have been one of the reasons for the stop closing, as back in 2012 Yarra Trams ran a trial where route 86 trams would skip the stop, instead using the platform stop around the corner.

However I am yet to be convinced closing the stop will fix all of the problems – plenty of dimwitted motorists managed to miss the stop line for the traffic lights, and almost lose their front bumper to turning trams.

It also does nothing to fix the congestion at the westbound platform stop at the corner of Bourke and Spencer Streets, where crowds of commuters in afternoon peak fill the street in an attempt to reach Southern Cross Station.

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