Public transport history
This page outlines the history of public transport in Victoria, which dates back to the 1800s.
Information on this page
Horse and cable trams
| Horse-drawn trams preceded Melbourne's cable tram network, which commenced on 11 November 1885, when the Richmond line opened for traffic. The councils of Melbourne and 10 surrounding municipalities constructed the system of cable-hauled tramways between 1885 and 1891. |  | 
Horse-drawn tram |
For more than a half a century onwards, until their surrender to the advancing electric tram system, the gentle rumble and clanging bells of the cable trams provided the background music of Melbourne's young and thriving streets.
One Australian writer of the period said that the cable tram 'was surely the most satisfactory of all modes of progress, neither too fast nor too slow, no horrible noises—except the occasional clanging of the gripman's bell—no smells of petrol or crude oil. What the hansom cab is to London's memory, so is the cable tram to Melbourne's'.
The scale of Melbourne's cable tramway network was inspiring, even by international standards. With 46 miles of double track serving 17 radiating routes from the centre of the city to neighbouring suburbs, it probably surpassed many of the vast American networks, even that of Chicago, which laid claim to being the world's largest.
Passengers enjoyed a smooth ride and a frequent service. To wait for a tram for five minutes was unusual. When the first cable line was opened to Richmond, trams left at intervals of four minutes. And that was in 1885, when the city's population was well under half a million.
The cable tram network stopped running in 1940. Sadly, apart from a few relics in the hands of private collectors, little evidence of the network's existence survives from the silent era of cable trams.
Electric trams
The first electric tram to run in Australia was demonstrated at the Carlton Gardens during the Centennial International Exhibition in 1888. From the following year until 1896, this pioneer vehicle, together with a second car, ran a regular tramway service between Box Hill Station and Doncaster, before it was abandoned.
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W-class electric tram |
Electric trams returned to stay in 1906, with the opening of the Victorian Railways line from St Kilda to Brighton. The North Melbourne Electric Tramway and Lighting Company opened routes from Flemington Bridge to Essendon and the Maribyrnong River.
During the second decade of this century, several municipalities formed trusts and built electric tramways within their areas. The Prahran and Malvern Tramways Trust opened lines in 1910, followed by the Hawthorn Tramways Trust and the Melbourne Brunswick and Coburg Tramways Trust in 1916.
Construction of the Footscray Tramways Trust and the Fitzroy, Northcote and Preston Tramways Trust lines were well under way when, in 1920, the Government established the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board (M&MTB) to take over and consolidate the various tramway operations.
The conversion to electric traction of the old cable system was carried out by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board between 1924 and 1940. Hundreds of new, large, electric trams were built to replace the fleets of small cars previously operated by the municipal tramway trusts.
Melbourne now has the third largest tramway network in the world and the largest outside Europe, with approximately 480 vehicles in service on 29 routes covering 245 kilometres of double track.
In 2003–04, the tram system carried around 136 million passengers and travelled 22.3 million tram kilometres.
Steam and diesel trains
Steam train | | Early in 1854, when Cobb and Co. extended its coach lines to the Victorian goldfields, work was under way on the first railway line to be opened in Victoria, from Melbourne to Sandridge (Port Melbourne). It was built by the Melbourne and Hobsons Bay Railway, which had been formed in August 1852. |
The railway line opened on 12 September 1854. The first steam train left Flinders Street Station at 12:20 p.m. It had two first class and one second class carriage for transporting its guests. There was also an open third class carriage, next to the locomotive, that carried the band of the 40th Regiment.
The Melbourne and Hobsons Bay Railway also constructed the short line to St Kilda, which opened on 13 May 1857 without stations. The Victorian Railway Department began on 19 March 1856 after the Government had bailed out the financially troubled railway company as it tried to build another line to Williamstown.
So began the story of Victoria's proud history of public train transport.
| Between 1854 and 1919, steam locomotives reigned supreme throughout the State. The shrill whistle of an approaching steam engine marked a new chapter in the evolution of a country town or city suburb—steam trains began melding rural and city life. Electric suburban trains commenced operation in 1919 and diesel electric locomotives gradually replace the remaining steam locomotives on country and interstate routes from the early 1950s. | | 
A-class steam locomotive in Spencer Street Yard, 1885 |
Train transport impacted on Victoria in many other ways. Engineering and building expertise was developed as the need grew to manufacture locomotives rather than depend on imports. These skills helped to strengthen Victoria's reputation as the manufacturing centre of Australia.
See also:
Celebrating Victoria's railway history.
Electric trains
| The electrification of the Melbourne train network began in earnest in December 1913. The First World War delayed the project but, by midway through 1915, progress had been made. | | 
Electric train |
At the start of 1916, the installation of electrical apparatus in suburban rolling stock went ahead and it was announced that drivers, guards and shunters would be trained to handle electric trains.
On 6 October 1916, electric trains made trial runs from Newmarket Station to Flemington Racecourse. Due to the First World War, little happened until another trial was conducted from Flinders Street to Essendon on 28 May 1919. Electric train services began on a limited basis after this trial.
By the end of 1919, electric trains were running on the St Kilda and Port Melbourne lines, followed by the Williamstown and Fawkner lines in 1920. Progressively, North Fitzroy, Reservoir, Heidelberg and other suburban lines were converted to electric operation.
Today, our electrified suburban train network is an extensive system by world standards with 17 routes radiating from the central city. 'Park-and-ride' travel is a significant feature of the system with the suburban network offering free parking spaces for cars.
See also:
City Loop history.
Buses
Early bus | | For nearly one and a half centuries, horse-drawn and automotive bus services have been an important feature of Victoria's transport requirements. The inherently flexible nature of bus operations has enabled it to meet our State's changing needs and expanding population. |
Up until the late 1860s, small horse-drawn omnibuses and cabs, which were mostly individually owned, were the first form of public transport in Melbourne. In 1869, however, the first fleet-type operation started.
The Melbourne Omnibus Company began operation with 11 horse-drawn buses carrying passengers from the city via Bourke Street to Fitzroy's Birmingham Hotel, at the corner of Smith and Johnston Streets. The service and the price of tickets were popular with travellers. Soon the buses were running to Richmond, Carlton and North Melbourne.
Suburban development encouraged the company to expand its network and, by 1881, its fleet consisted of 158 horse buses, each carrying 12 to 14 seated passengers, operating within a three-mile radius of the city; and some services extending as far as Moonee Ponds, Prahran and Brunswick.
Over the ensuing decades, and despite fierce competition from trams and trains, bus operators continued to serve patrons and adjust to their ever-changing needs.
Today's modern fleet of 1,477 metropolitan buses travels on 285 routes and covers over 75.2 million bus kilometres per year. In the 2003–04 financial year, approximately 94 million passengers travelled on the metropolitan bus network. The network connects the city to its expanding suburbs and provides reliable feeder services for the tram and train networks.
Most of the State's metropolitan and regional bus services have been privately operated for years. In Melbourne alone, 39 private operators provide efficient, reliable and customer-focused bus services.
Country and interstate services
Country and interstate travellers have witnessed an enormous number of changes over the decades. It was fewer than 50 years ago that steam engines still hauled many of the country passenger trains.
How the situation has changed.
The
Spirit of Progress, designed to compete with the best overseas trains, had streamlined features and lightweight alloy steel carriages, which were air-conditioned. Built at the Newport workshops, it had panelling made from Australian timbers, which gave a gleaming finish to the interior. The train symbolised the Victorian Railways at its best. The
Spirit of Progress made its first journey on 23 November 1937.
On 26 March 1956, the Victorian Railways introduced the
Daylight to cater for people wanting to travel to Sydney by day rather than catch the
Spirit of Progress at night.
In 1962, the
Southern Aurora made its debut. First-class throughout, including the dining facilities, the
Aurora featured all-sleeper accommodation. Sadly, the patronage of the train declined in the 1980s and, in 1986, it was combined with the
Spirit of Progress to form the
Sydney Express (from Melbourne) and the
Melbourne Express (from Sydney).
November 1993 marked the end of 13-hour inter-city travel between Melbourne and Sydney. The XPT was introduced, slashing journey times between capitals. Overnight services were also available on the
Overland to Adelaide and the
Vinelander to Mildura.
In addition to these services, there are other long-distance coach and rail operations that link Melbourne to all major regional centres. The system, which is operated by V/Line Passenger, comprises 1,152 route kilometres of rail service over five corridors that service 98 stations and 9,334 route kilometres of coach service.
Engineering and manufacturing
| Historically, manufacturing has been the most important industry in Victoria, and still remains the most significant. In transport, our State's long successful record of engineering and manufacturing cable and electric trams, steam and diesel locomotives and bus body-building is equal to the world's best. | | 
V-class tram being restored at Preston workshops |
Our proud history was seeded in facilities like the Newport railway workshops. Built in 1888, it was one of Victoria's largest and best-equipped engineering establishments, with up to 5,000 employees on site building and maintaining railway rolling stock. The workshops even made many of its own machine tools, a task which required a high level of technical expertise.
The Preston tramway workshops was another example of our pioneering manufacturing expertise. Opened in 1926, the facility built and maintained Melbourne's trams. In the early 1970s electric Z-class trams were introduced to Melbourne. These and later additional Z, A and B-class trams were manufactured off site at Dandenong and were transported to Preston for their final fit-out. The Preston workshops still carry out maintenance of trams in our fleet.
Today, Victoria is the Australasian centre for excellence in light-rail technology, and is exporting its light-rail expertise around Australia and the world. The state-of-the-art vehicles on Sydney's light rail system were manufactured in Victoria. Hong Kong's Tuen Mun light-rail system was also developed by a Victorian consortium.
Victoria's capabilities are also reflected in the export of railway locomotives to India, passenger carriages to America and signalling systems to Indonesia, Thailand and Taiwan.
Victoria's light-rail industry currently consists of more than 60 local and international firms. Together, they can command all the resources needed to plan, design, build, commission, operate, maintain and refurbish a complete light-rail system.
Photos
These photos and more are available from the
Public Transport Corporation Photographic Collection on the Public Record Office Victoria website.