Once I had come back to Kyoto (very sadly!!), I started wondering trams should be back on service in Kyoto, and being curious to know why Melbourne keep tram services while many cities in the world have replaced trams with buses.
I was able to research online, but distrusting Wikipedia, I have decided to contact Yarra Trams, the operator of Melbourne's tram network, so visited their website. Under their contact us section, I found Melbourne had a tram museum at the former its Hawthorn depot, so I emailed the museum for the sources for this blog.
Melbourne Tram Museum's content manager Russell Jones responded with links to his articles.
According to his article No stairway to heaven: the failure of double decker buses in Melbourne, The Melbourne & Metroplitan Tramways Board (M&MTB) had a programme converting cable tram lines to electrical traction and it resumed in 1935 after the recovery from the Great Depression.
Afterwards, two of three Elizabeth Street routes (Farmington Road and Sydney Road) were converted into the electrical tram lines, and another was replaced with a single decker bus service due to low patronase levels. Other tram lines with low patronised were also replaced by single decker buses.
The question came up when the M&MTB was resolving the conversion of three Bourke Street routes. The M&MTB held up the project due to the financial loss on the Collingwood cable tram lines. Other two routes of Northcote and North Fitzroy had been heavily patronised.
Hector Hercules Bell, the Chairman of the M&MTB visited North America and Europe in 1938 to examine urban tansport systems. Bell was so impressed with their diesel bus technology handling with heavy patronising. His determination of converting the cable tram lines on Bourke Street became replacing with buses.
Prevailing upon the Board on his decision, a twelve-month trial was set to rationalise the bus services. If the bus replacement was unsuccessful, the original plan to convert into the electrical tram lines would remain and bus fleets would be transferred to other existing services.
70 buses - 25 single decker and 45 double decker vehicles entered on services. As several manufactures were awarded with the contract, the deivery of all 70 buses were not made within their target of March 1940.
Starting the bus services on 26 October 1940, the operation was clearly seen as a failure because of number of issues.
- Buses required the same size of two crewmen, driver and conductor as trams, but had less capacity comparing 150 on trams to 90 on buses. Operating bus services cost higher than trams and reduced the rate of return.
- Double decker buses did not suit with Melbourne as many passenger had short trips and were relectant to ascend and descend the staircase. And difficulty on collecting fares on crowed buses reduced the fare income.
- Their Leyland fleet had bad features including open rear platform that created kerbside dwell, lacklustre accelerator that was not suited with the hill on Bourke Street, small size that was unable to handle with peak hour passengers, top deck colliding shop roofs and electrical poles.
- Buses had shorter life spans - 14 years comparing 30 years of W Class trams.
Conversion to electrical trams was the priority in the post WW II, but the lack of support from the State Governmet delayed the project. The Northcote route was completed on 26 June 1955, while the East Brunswick route was not finished until 6 April 1956.
Then the financial circumstances in the 1950s and 60s saved Melbourne's team networks thanks to Sir Robert Risson, while other cities in the world abandoned tram services.
Having built the tram network in Brisbane and served in military, Sir Robert was appointed as the Chairman of M&MTB in 1949.
Facing the staff shortages and cost issues, the M&MTB constructed hostels for immigrants to join the tram works. Even the failure of bus services in Bourke Street, the organisation have been criticised with anti-bus.
Sir Robert's own mark at the M&MTB was 'yes is yes' and 'no is no' management with the combinatio of integrity that was admired by the tramways staff.
In 1955, he spoke of the fact backing the union's insistence that 41-seat buses require two-man operations while a tram had 48-seats with two-man opertion required. With this ecomomy view, buses were unfavoured.
His announcement was misquoted in the Melbourne's press as the M&MTB was intended to build a bus workshop in Dudley Flats. Their readers were impressed that trams were going and buses were taking over.
But in the mid 1950s, substantial operating economies was essential to keep the organisation afloat. Buses operating on reduced headways replaced all-night tram services from February 1957, as well as some Sunday tram services were replaced by buses from 1959.
The order of the W7 type tramcars was reduced from 70 to 40 and the last rollingstock entered into the service in 1956. M&MTB had purchased tramcars for 17 years until then.
Their building fleets in the 1960s were only 100 AEC buses with 31-seats. Meanwhie low patronising Point Ormond and Footscray local lines were replaced by buses in early 1960s. Coburg and Hawthorn tram depots and Port Melbourne bus depot were closed due to the financial structures.
Thanks to these histories, Melbourne operates the world's largest tram network currently with Yarra Trams established in 1999 under Kennett Government's privatisation.
Yarra Trams operate 24 routes and the City Circuit tourist service with 250-kilometre double tracks and more than 1700 stops across the network.
Number of their weekly services is about 31,500 and annual patronage of 2015-16 is more than 203 million boardings.
About 450 trams are owned by Yarra Trams with the traditional W Class serving in the City Circuit built in 1956 to the modern E Class, three section articulated and low floored vehicles. During the peak time, around 410 trams are on services.
It's impressive how Melbourne keep trams on services. Then later, I am presenting my suggestion to reintroduce trams in Kyoto.
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