CITY CIRCLE TRAM TO RUN WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN

Sunday, 06 April 2008
Melbourne’s iconic City Circle trams will continue daylight saving hours of service all year round, even as Victoria goes back to standard time today.



Minister for Public Transport, Lynne Kosky said the tram was a Melbourne institution, attracting an average of three million customers each year.

“The City Circle tram has been in operation since 1994 and is extremely popular with locals and tourists alike. It offers the unique experience of free travel on a historic W class tram while seeing the city’s sights,” Ms Kosky said.

“Our decision to extend the operating hours of the tram means passengers will be able to enjoy the Melbourne experience even after the sun goes down.”

The City Circle tram circumnavigates the city in both directions every 12 minutes, seven days a week, between 10am and 6pm (except Christmas Day and Good Friday) and until 9pm three nights a week during daylight saving.

“Due to its popularity, the City Circle service will continue to operate to a daylight saving timetable on a permanent basis, from 10am to 9pm every Thursday, Friday and Saturday,” Ms Kosky said.

“With the extended hours of operation, the service can carry an extra 500,000 passengers each year.

“The tram travels along a route designed to access as many attractions and places of interest as possible including the Old Melbourne Gaol, Parliament House, the Immigration Museum, Telstra Dome and Federation Square.”

Passengers can also access transport links along the route that will take them to Melbourne’s suburbs and places of interest such as the Melbourne Zoo and St Kilda Beach.

An automated commentary announces points of interest along the route and Yarra Trams’ customer service employees can assist tourists with inquiries about Melbourne and its trams.

  • The City Circle tram carries an average of three million passengers each year.
  • From Sunday to Wednesday, each tram circumnavigates the city 11 times and from Thursday to Saturday each tram goes around 14 times a day.
  • The steel track that the City Circle trams travel on weights approximately 238,210 kg.
  • The 10 W class trams were built between 1936 and 1955 at the Preston workshops.

 Each City Circle tram travels approximately 33,381 km a year and 81 km a day. It takes 48 minutes for each tram to do a full circle.