Fares aside, Hailey pays a ‘physical cost’ for each trip on Melbourne’s old trams

Only two stops on Melbourne’s vast tram network will be rebuilt to be more accessible over the next year, as the majority of routes remain difficult or impossible for people with disability, the elderly and parents with prams to navigate.

Analysis of Yarra Trams timetables shows that 43 per cent of services are now operated with accessible low-floor trams – an improvement from 38 per cent five years ago – with the bulk of trips still being on older A-, B- and Z-Class trams that require passengers to climb three steps to board.

Hailey Pham says the high-floor trams are difficult to use for people with disabilities. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

Meanwhile, 472 level-access stops have been built on the network – an increase of 18 since 2020, representing 29 per cent of the 1634 stops across the city.

Wheelchair and some other mobility aid users generally need both a low-floor tram and a level-access stop to board a tram – something only the 96 route offers along its entire length.

Hailey Pham’s South Yarra home is close to route 78, which runs along Chapel Street and is Melbourne’s least accessible tram route, the only one without a single accessible stop or any accessible trams.

Pham has thoracic outlet syndrome, a condition that limits her upper limb function and causes intractable pain, making it difficult to walk or stand up for long periods.

The 26-year-old said access to public transport was important for her independence, but she avoids the high-floor trams because it is too hard to climb on board and find a seat, due to their lower seating capacity and inaccessible design.

“Any of the other tram designs are significantly easier to take for people with disabilities,” Pham said. “Being able to take public transport without needing to weigh the physical cost of each trip would let me focus on everyday life, like everybody else.”

Disability Resources Centre advocate Andrew Bretherton said it was “ridiculous” such little progress had been made in making the network accessible, more than 20 years after the Disability Discrimination Act was passed.

A model of the new G-Class tram, which will begin testing on the network later this year. Credit: Department of Transport and Planning

Victoria missed a deadline imposed by that law to make all tram stops accessible by 2022, and now faces an uphill battle to make the entire tram fleet accessible by 2032.

Six routes now operate entirely with accessible trams, but 11 routes still exclusively use high-floor rolling stock.

“What they’re doing is segregating a whole community from society by not letting them have access to an everyday need, which is transport,” Bretherton said.

“Almost everyone’s going to be affected by disability at some point. You’re secluding disabled, injured people, elderly people from the community.”

Bretherton said that while public transport could be especially inaccessible for wheelchair users, there should also be more awareness of people whose disability might not be obvious to others but who still needed ramps, level-access stops, and use of priority seating.

People with these “hidden disabilities” sometimes wear sunflower lanyards or badges when they travel.

Victoria’s new G-Class trams will start testing on the network later this year, with 100 due to be delivered through a $1.4 billion order.

Operating out of a new depot in Maidstone and designed with extensive input from accessibility advocates, the G-Class will first be deployed on the routes 57, 82 and 59, which currently have no accessible trams and few accessible stops.

A spokesman for Public Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams said two new level-access stops would be built in the 2025/26 financial year, at the Moonee Ponds Junction, which serves routes 82 and 59.

Fourteen more have funding in the pipeline, including eight along Droop Street, Footscray, announced in last month’s budget.

Public Transport Users Association spokesperson Daniel Bowen said the 100 G-Class trams were a “good start”, but 130 high-floor B-Class trams would be left on the network which also needed replacing.

“We’ve got some areas which are very reliant on tram services, and if you’re able-bodied, that’s great. [But] if you’re a parent with a pram, it can be very difficult to use the high-floor trams. If you’re using luggage, it can be difficult. And if you’ve got a wheelchair or some other sort of mobility aid, it’s basically impossible.”

An Allan government spokesperson said the Labor government had upgraded 98 tram stops since coming to power a decade ago, and delivered 50 accessible E-Class trams.

“We know there is more to do, and we’re working with accessibility groups to ensure we are prioritising the upgrades that will make the most difference to them,” the spokesperson said.

The Transport Department has shifted to an approach of upgrading a group of stops along an entire “corridor” of the tram network rather than on a stop-by-stop basis.

Design work and consultation was undertaken to upgrade stops on route 86 along Gertrude and Smith streets in Fitzroy and Collingwood, and on High Street in Thornbury and Northcote last year, but the state government has not committed to implementing those upgrades.

A 2020 Victorian Auditor-General’s Office report found the Transport Department had estimated the cost of upgrading all tram stops in the network to level-access would cost at least $2 billion.

A spokesperson for the City of Stonnington said it was working with the department on long-term planning for accessible tram stops on Chapel Street as part of “broader discussions about the future transformation of the precinct”.

“This planning work will consider how best to integrate tram accessibility upgrades with streetscape improvements and the needs of other road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and local traders,” they said.

Yarra Trams recorded almost 16 million passenger trips last year on Melbourne tram network, which is the world’s largest.

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