St Kilda, City Circle heritage trams cut in timetable overhaul

Melbourne’s heritage W-class tourist tram service will be permanently cut back, and a special weekend service that had been introduced to ease crowding on St Kilda trams will be axed, as part of an upcoming timetable overhaul.

Some routes on the busy Swanston Street corridor will run more often later into the evening when the changes come into effect on October 29, but at the cost of fewer daytime services, documents obtained by The Age show.

A special weekend service introduced to ease crowding on St Kilda trams will be axed.Credit: Darrian Traynor

A copy of the proposed timetable changes shows passengers will wait about two minutes longer between trams at some points between the morning and afternoon commuter peaks, generally pushing the wait time out from 10 to 12 minutes.

But there will be improvements later into the evening and particularly on Friday nights, with routes to run every 15 minutes until 9.30pm or 10.30pm instead of every 20 minutes, partly responding to how the pandemic and flexible working has shifted demand and travel patterns.

Yarra Trams planning documents seen by this masthead also say Route 3 Malvern East-Melbourne University trams will no longer be diverted via The Esplanade in St Kilda on weekends, under the new timetable.

The 3a service was introduced in 2009 in response to route 16 trams being overcrowded with visitors to the St Kilda foreshore, and its removal will roughly halve services from St Kilda to Swanston Street and Flinders Street Station. The 96 and 12 lines also connect St Kilda to the city via the bayside suburbs and Spencer Street.

The Yarra Trams document says no changes to weekend frequencies were required, but route 16 “might be reviewed to optimise service connections”.

Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said more night services were badly needed but the loss of the 3a services was concerning.

“It looks like they’re rearranging the resources they have, but I think the key will be to watch those St Kilda beach services to make sure that crowding isn’t a problem,” he said. “That was the reason they moved route 3 to the beach in the first place”.

Melbourne’s famous W-class trams will only operate clockwise every 12 minutes on the Route 35/City Circle, which is a popular tourist drawcard and also used by city workers to travel around the CBD perimeter and Docklands.

The heritage City Circle W-Class service will be cut to only operate clockwise. Credit: Penny Stephens

Yarra Trams is supposed to operate the refurbished heritage trams in both directions every 12 minutes under its contract with the Victorian government.

However, the operator has recently struggled to fulfil that obligation due to driver shortages and the timetable change will permanently halve the number of services.

Rail Tram and Bus Union Victoria Branch secretary Vik Sharma said the W-class city circle tram “should be the jewel in the crown of our network, but management have for too long failed to properly fund and prioritise these services”.

A spokesman for the Andrews government, also responding on behalf of the Department of Transport and Planning, said the timetable was being adjusted to reflect post-pandemic travel habits.

“Tram timetables are regularly reviewed to ensure they reflect travel patterns and network conditions and that services are delivered where they’re needed most, taking into account post-pandemic travel patterns and demand,” they said.

Yarra Trams directed question to the Department of Transport and Planning, which is responsible for timetables.

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