Articles: W-Class trams

[ozbob]

From the Herald Sun click here!



Photograph R Dow 7th January 2010

TIME is up for Melbourne's iconic W-Class trams, Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula has confirmed.

UPDATE 11.05am: TIME is up for Melbourne's iconic W-Class trams, Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula has confirmed.

Mr Pakula today confirmed the old trams would no longer be used for commuter routes, as soon as new trams become available.

W-Class trams, which currently run along routes 78 and 79, between North Richmond and St Kilda, will be phased out when new trams are available in 2012, a spokesman for Mr Pakula, Stephen Moynihan, said.

"I don't think anything is forever," Mr Pakula said. "The tram network needs to be consistently improved in the same way the train network does, and we want to get the best, most modern fleet of trams that we can."

"I think people that travel around on the City Circle love the idea of getting on those W-class trams.

"It's a reminder of days past, and they are a historic, heritage vehicle, and I think people enjoy travelling on them for what they are.

"I don't think they are designed for large-scale commuter transportation any more.

"I think people want a more modern, more comfortable trams ...

[#Metro]

Send them to Queensland.
We think they are modern!

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

Minister in, W-class trams out


http://images.theage.com.au/2010/01/21/1057800/Wclass-420x0.jpg
A W-Class Tram on Chapel Street, South Yarra. Photo: Justin McManus

Minister in, W-class trams out
SARAH-JANE COLLINS
January 22, 2010

IN HIS first act as Public Transport Minister, Martin Pakula has confirmed the Government will retire Melbourne's W-class tram fleet from commuter service.

The historic trams have been carrying Melbourne commuters for more than 80 years, but yesterday Mr Pakula said they were simply too old to go on.

''They are a historic, heritage vehicle, and I think people enjoy travelling on them for what they are,'' he said. ''I don't think they are designed for large-scale commuter transportation any more,'' he said.

Mr Pakula said the W-class, built at workshops in Preston and introduced to the network in 1923, will remain on the city circle route.

National Trust chief executive Martin Purslow said the trams were a Melbourne icon, and a fleet should be maintained to take passengers not just around the city loop but to landmarks throughout Melbourne.

''If we are ever to link the city with other key sites, it is imperative that Government preserves the remaining fleet of 30 or so operational W-Class trams for the benefit of future generations,'' he said.

The response from commuters to the news was mixed.

''It's a bit sad to see them go. They're the nicest looking trams, but I suppose they're not so usable,'' said Jane Simpson, who has been catching the trams for over 30 years.

But two younger travellers, Jasmine, 17, and Nick, 16, said they were glad the trams were going, because they could not cope with Melbourne's summer heat.

Tram traveller Herbert Herpst shared their sentiment: ''I'm not worried, because we need air-conditioning; summer is too hot and winter is too cold. It should be in a museum. Or just kept for tourist routes.

''Perhaps they could be preserved for the inner circle. They're too noisy and they brake badly.''

The W-class trams will be phased out on routes 78 and 79 from 2012 when the Government is expecting to start rolling out new trams.

''There are already 50 new trams in the pipeline as part of the Victorian transport plan ... and I'm confident that they will make a marked impact on the network,'' Mr Pakula said.

But the Victorian director of the Australian Industry Group, Tim Piper, has backed calls by Yarra Trams chief executive Michel Masson for the Government to consider commissioning even more trams.

''The tram network requires many more than 50 trams over the next five years. The Government should bite the bullet now and seek tenders for up to 200 trams,'' he said.

But Mr Pakula said calls to increase the order were premature.

''If more money became available in the transport budget, well there are competing interests on that money ... so they're decisions for another day,'' he said.

''Right now I'm going to focus on getting around the network and I'm confident that the tram procurement that we've already got in the pipeline is going to make a difference.''

With LEAH HUMPHRYS

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

City not ready to lose its W-class act

City not ready to lose its W-class act
RUTH WILLIAMS
February 28, 2010

THEY are old, noisy and hot. But the classic W-class trams engender such fondness that the idea of them disappearing from Melbourne streets - apart from a limited tourist circuit in the CBD - seems unthinkable.

Last month came confirmation that W-class trams would be phased out from commuter routes from 2012, eventually leaving the free City Circle line and the restaurant trams as their only presence. But moves are under way to save the trams, with the tram union and the National Trust working to keep them moving.

About 200 W-class trams are in storage and only 38 remain in operation.

Twelve of these are used for the free City Circle tourist route, and the others are deployed, for the time being, on route 30 on La Trobe Street in the city and the 78/79 routes along Chapel Street.

The state government is yet to decide what will happen to the W-class fleet once is it is finally taken off the commuter routes. But there is no shortage of ideas.

The tram union and the National Trust want them to remain a significant part of the city's transport system, pointing to their cultural and historic significance. Under a proposal put to the state government by the Rail, Tram & Bus Union, the vintage trams would be used for an ''outer circle tourist route'' passing through South Melbourne, South Yarra and Richmond.

''We need to find a proper place for the W-class trams,'' said the union's Victorian branch secretary, Trevor Dobbyn. ''They have to have more than a token place in the system if they are going to survive.''

The union says its plan would require only a few changes to existing tracks - including one section of new tracks on Park Street near Kings Way, and new track curves at two points along the route. One potential terminus point would be in Peel Street in North Melbourne, leaving open the option of the trams travelling to the Melbourne Zoo.

Lou Di Gregorio, secretary of the union's tram and bus division, estimated the cost of the new track would be about $4 million but said it would be ''money well invested''. ''They are an icon of the city of Melbourne, and they are known right around the world,'' he said.

It is yet to be decided whether the service would be free, or would involve a small fare. A spokesman for Transport Minister Martin Pakula confirmed that the union had raised the matter, adding: ''The W-class trams are an icon of Melbourne and will continue to operate on the popular City Circle route.''

The National Trust, meanwhile, is campaigning for its own W-class proposal - a ''Grand Circle Line'' that, while similar to the union's plan, follows a longer route south to St Kilda. The trust is preparing a new campaign for its proposed route, announced in 2004, with the slogan ''W - the face of Melbourne''.

''We welcome anyone who comes forward with similar suggestions that really promote the use of the W-class tram as being not only part of the tourism product, but actually part of a viable, economic tram system,'' said Paul Roser, conservation manager for the National Trust of Australia (Victoria).

Many of the W-class trams were built in Preston. They were introduced in 1923, but were gradually phased out from the 1970s amid concerns about their brakes - which were replaced in those trams still operating - and complaints about their slowness, noisiness and lack of air-conditioning.

It is also difficult for elderly or disabled people to board the trams, although the trust has suggested using platform stops, ramps or wheelchair lifts.

Mr Roser said the W-trams gave the city its identity. ''It makes us different from everybody else. This is a part of our cultural heritage.''

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

Activist ready to rattle to keep W-class rolling

Activist ready to rattle to keep W-class rolling
RUTH WILLIAMS
March 7, 2010

AS A young man, a budding property entrepeneur and a member of the ''Collins Street Defence'' movement, Bill McHarg helped save some of Melbourne's most striking heritage buildings during the conservation battles of the 1970s and '80s.

Then, having made a fortune helping to build Colliers International into a commercial real estate powerhouse, he quit the company in late 2007 to launch an audacious campaign on climate change, targeting then prime minister John Howard in his marginal seat of Bennelong.

Now the businessman and activist has turned his attention to Melbourne's classic W-class trams.

''They say familiarity breeds contempt,'' Mr McHarg says.

''We are so familiar with these rattlers we are starting to hold them in contempt - we are too close to them to appreciate how much of an icon they are.''

Mr McHarg's position is that the vintage, Melbourne-built W-class trams, which debuted in 1923, are just as deserving of conservation as the 19th-century Rialto building, which he helped save more than 30 years ago while working pro bono for the National Trust.

''The W-class trams are an essential part of Melbourne's identity and character. They epitomise what is uniquely Melbourne, the sound they make and their old, humble, honest character.''

Of the roughly 230 W-class trams remaining, almost 200 are in storage, 12 are used for the free City Circle tourist line, and about 26 are used to service two inner-city commuter routes.

In January, new Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula confirmed that the W-class trams would be phased out from commuter routes as new trams arrived from 2012, leaving the City Circle tourist route and the restaurant trams as their only presence on Melbourne's transport system.

It is a prospect decried by groups including the Rail, Tram and Bus Union and the National Trust, which say the trams should continue to have a significant presence in Melbourne.

Both have put forward separate suggestions to use the trams for expanded tourist circuits. The union put its proposal to the Transport Minister last month, while the National Trust is preparing a campaign on the issue.

Mr McHarg has thrown his weight behind the National Trust's plan to use the W-class trams for a ''Grand Circle line'', extending south to St Kilda and north to Victoria Street, Richmond, although he says there are other route variations that could be looked at.

He suggests they could operate similar to a ''hop on, hop off'' bus service - an interesting proposal, given that the Melbourne City Council is now reviewing the contract for its $1.3 million-a-year tourist shuttle service. The City Circle route carries an average of 7000 people a day, according to City of Melbourne estimates, compared to 660 for the shuttle bus.

''If they are going to take them off the network, what the hell are they going to do with 230 trams?'' Mr McHarg said.

''There would be an outcry if they were exported. There would be an outcry if they were scrapped. My concern is that the government has a closed mind on an alternative use for the W's.''

A spokesman for Mr Pakula said the government recognised the W-class trams were iconic and an important part of the city's heritage. ''That is why they will continue to run on the City Circle route. The [union's] proposal will be examined as part of normal government considerations.''

Mr McHarg helped save the Rialto by finding an economic argument for its conservation. He is now working on a business plan for the 200 trams sitting unused in storage sheds. He proposes restoring them and leasing them as a fleet of ''roving ambassadors'' to cities around the world. W-class trams have, in the past, been sold or given as gifts to cities including San Francisco and Seattle.

The National Trust estimates that restoring a W-class tram - including noise reduction, boosted safety features and disabled access - would cost an average of $500,000 a tram. Mr McHarg believes Melbourne could ask about $2 million to lease each restored tram for 50 years, potentially generating more than $100 million in profit.

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

Battle on as oldest running tram is retired

Battle on as oldest running tram is retired
CLAY LUCAS
April 1, 2010

IT STARTED running 11 days before Ron Barassi was born and, like the pugnacious ruck rover, it's had a long career.

Tram 728 was built in Preston and hit Melbourne's streets in February 1936. Since then it has run about 3 million kilometres.

And if the Rail, Tram and Bus Union has anything to do with it, Melbourne's oldest running tram won't end up like Reg Ansett's defunct airline, also launched in 1936.

Yarra Trams yesterday decommissioned tram 728, with plans to replace it with a younger W-class tram, built in 1953. The tram deserved a rest, chief executive Michel Masson said. ''There are just no more spare parts for this particular configuration of W-class tram,'' he said.

But the union has issued a notice of dispute to stop tram 728 being returned to Preston and torn apart for spare bits.

''We don't even know why the tram is being taken out of service,'' Lou Di Gregorio, secretary of the union's tram division, said yesterday. Yarra Trams management had broken a workplace agreement by failing to consult workers about the tram, he said, and it would not leave the Southbank depot.

Yarra Trams' new managers took over Melbourne's system four months ago, and had little experience running a large network, Mr Di Gregorio said. ''If we are not careful our tram system will fall apart because of these people.''

At least 177 vintage W-class trams are in long-term storage.

Under Melbourne's privatised system, the state government buys new trams and the operator maintains them.

RMIT's transport planning expert, Paul Mees, said this meant operators preferred to retire W-class trams instead of fixing them. ''Other cities keep using old trams because it doesn't pass a cost-benefit analysis to get rid of them,'' he said. ''Here, they allow them to fall apart, because the more they deteriorate the more likely it is the government will buy new ones.''

Under the contract signed by the government last year with France's Keolis, 38 W-class trams must run.

The National Trust's W-class group chairman, Don Gibson, argues this is too few, and tram 728 should be kept in service. ''It could be repaired, and the effort ought to be made. The Ws are being used as a tourist attraction because they are part of Melbourne's history. That's what we are losing here,'' he said.

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

One track minds missing big picture of W-class

One track minds missing big picture of W-class
August 11, 2010

THE American city of Memphis produced writer Tennessee Williams, gave a start to Elvis and Johnny Cash, and hosted Martin Luther King when he gave his seminal ''Mountaintop'' speech. Do you know what else Memphis can boast about? Melbourne's W-class trams. Memphis now has nine of them rattling along its streets and the irony is that, unless something is done soon, it may end up with more than the Yarra village that invented them.

''There were 300 W-class trams operating in Melbourne in 1990,'' says Rohan Storey, architectural historian with the National Trust. ''There are now about 48 in working order with about 25 on the street at any one time. In two years' time they are all supposed to be gone under the government program. That would leave just the 12 W-class tourist trams on the City Circle.''

The W-class trams, big and clunky, patriotically green and gold, were born and bred in Melbourne. They have become our postcard equivalent of Sydney's Harbour Bridge but, unlike many cities overseas, Melbourne authorities have shown little enthusiasm.

''Seattle and San Francisco have bought some,'' says Storey, ''and Christchurch, New Zealand. Savannah, Georgia, bought one and fitted a motor powered by chip oil. It is the first carbon-neutral W-class. And there are those nine in Memphis, with expansion plans for more.''

The National Trust is campaigning to save the W-class but Storey says they have been stymied: ''The problem is, we are arguing with a government department that just doesn't want to listen. The Department of Transport is full of people who like new trams and think people like new trams. And there is no legal avenue of appeal to stop the Victorian government axing the Ws. It's like telling a house owner to restore their house - you can't force them.''

Storey says our W-class trams have proved so popular in the US that many have evolved from tourist attractions to everyday transport.

There are two reasons why Melbourne kept its tramway network against the worldwide trend, according to Storey. ''First, our streets were wide enough that the trams did not disrupt traffic. And second, we had a strong tramways board. The president, Sir Robert Risson, was convinced of trams' efficiency and immune to calls to replace them with buses.

''In 1956 he actually persuaded the government to restore one of the tramlines on the old cable-car routes. And he relaid many of the other tracks in concrete so they wouldn't buckle. This meant the system we have is relatively new.''

The Trust - under the slogan ''Don't throw away our legacy'' - is pushing for a new W-class route to supplement the City Circle, a Grand Circle to run to St Kilda via South Melbourne and back via Chapel Street.

Storey says San Francisco saved its last few cable-car routes through citizen action but there has been no big campaign in Melbourne, no street march or demonstration, because the disappearance of the Ws has been so gradual.

''Trams are a unique form of transport and more attractive than buses even if the buses are more frequent and faster. It's the psychological certainty of having those tracks in the road. Bizarre but it's true.''

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

Minister agrees to talk on saving the old Ws

Minister agrees to talk on saving the old Ws
Ruth Williams
October 17, 2010

TRANSPORT Minister Martin Pakula has promised to meet heritage campaigner Bill McHarg to talk over the future of Melbourne's green-and-yellow W-class trams, as the campaign to keep the vintage vehicles on the streets continues.

Mr Pakula has pledged to give ''serious consideration'' to Mr McHarg's suggestion to use the trams for a new tourist circuit, with the minister saying he also would discuss the idea with network operator Yarra Trams.

''I've received correspondence from Mr McHarg, I've also met with the tram drivers' union, who are also very positive about the notion of having, if you like, an extended City Circle or tourist route,'' Mr Pakula said.

''I'll be meeting with Mr McHarg later in the month and will be giving what he's put to us some serious consideration. But I'll also need to sit down with Yarra Trams about it and ensure that as far as it impacts potentially on commuter routes, as far as it impacts on the availability of rolling stock, that all of those things are given proper consideration.''

It follows last week's launch of a campaign by Mr McHarg, the National Trust and the state tram union for the historic trams to be given a new life after they are taken off commuter routes from 2012. There are 38 W-class trams still in service, and another 200 in storage.

They have suggested using the trams for a hop-on, hop-off tourist route that would charge about $25 and take in 60 Melbourne attractions from Federation Square to St Kilda.

Last week they called for expressions of interest from potential operators, advertisers and sponsors for the proposed new circuit, in the hope of then presenting the proposal to the government.

Mr McHarg, a property consultant and long-time heritage activist, said he had since been contacted by several parties interested in the plan, many members of the public who supported the campaign, and some who had put forward their own ideas - such as ''jazz trams'' featuring live music.

''Occasionally, people who do not 'get' Melbourne call out for the fabrication of a Melbourne icon to compete with Sydney's Opera House or San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge,'' Mr McHarg said. ''That's not Melbourne - Melbourne is more subtle, more nuanced [and it] already has its icons - Flinders Street Station, the Arts Centre spire, the MCG, our laneways and, yes, the W-class tram.''

The state government plans to remove all W-class trams from the network, except for the privately operated restaurant trams and about a dozen maroon trams running the limited City Circle CBD circuit.

The opposition has promised to consider the tourist route plan. It also has support in principle from the four mayors whose municipalities would include the expanded circuit. The mayors include Yarra's Jane Garrett, Labor candidate for the state seat of Brunswick, and Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle.

The Royal Historical Society of Victoria, which has about 1200 members, has come out in ''strong support'' of the campaign. Society president Andrew Lemon said the Ws symbolised Melbourne's ''resistance against a worldwide move in the 1950s and 1960s to abolish city trams in favour of diesel buses and cars''.

''A clever city such as Melbourne, which pours millions of dollars into schemes with no demonstrated bottom line such as the grand prix, can easily find a way of maintaining these W-class trams and running them on particular routes,'' Dr Lemon said. ''Melbourne is a distinctive city with a unique culture. Let's celebrate that.''

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

W-class trams: prized overseas but a vanishing species here

W-class trams: prized overseas but a vanishing species here
Ruth Williams
October 17, 2010

IN SAN Francisco, they are admired for their ''simple design and rugged reliability'', while in Christchurch, they are regarded as the tireless ''workhorses'' of that city's tourist tram fleet.

Melbourne's W-class trams are prized in cities and towns around the world, also ferrying passengers in the US cities of Memphis and Savannah, in the tiny Denmark village of Jystrup, and in two New Zealand cities.

But while they are popular overseas, the yellow-and-green W-class trams are set to vanish from Melbourne streets from 2012, leaving about a dozen maroon City Circle Ws as their only presence in their home town. As Paul Roser, conservation manager at the National Trust states in today's Sunday Age, it could mean that ''there will soon be more Ws in service around the world than here at home''.

In San Francisco, W-class tram No. 496 runs several days a week along the ''F-line'' vintage streetcar route, which takes in Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square, and the Castro District.

''The Melbourne tram is what we call a 'crowd swallower', with lots of room for people to stand,'' says Rick Laubscher, president of San Francisco's Market Street Railway, a non-profit group that works in partnership with the city's public transport agency. ''It is one of the highest-capacity trams we have ... we have had few problems with it in the quarter-century it has run here.''

In contrast to the faded and tarnished paint jobs of the W-class trams still trundling around Melbourne, tram 496 is resplendent in bright yellow and green.

''We keep the trams freshly painted and clean to maximise their appeal to people who otherwise would not ride public transit,'' Mr Laubscher says. ''And it has worked.''

But a second W tram donated to San Francisco last year has been out of service after a leaky air valve was discovered soon after it arrived in California. Mr Laubscher said that it had also arrived without crucial spare parts; the Market Street Railway was now trying to raise the $US5000 it would cost to ship them.

Meanwhile, the W-class tram gifted to Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik, Crown Princess Mary and Prince Christian has been kept busy since its debut journey through the Denmark snow in 2006. Now on long-term loan to Denmark's Tramway Museum Skjoldenaesholm, it operates most days the museum is open.

''The royal tram is well known in Denmark and on days where it is not rostered for traffic we often get requests from visitors to put it in service,'' says museum leader Mikael Lund.

And a W operating 365 days a year in Christchurch, New Zealand, has proved to be the ''workhorse'' of that city's historic tram fleet. ''It's a lovely tram, and the drivers love driving it,'' says John Smith, operations manager of Christchurch Tramway. A second Christchurch W is fitted out as a restaurant tram.

It is unclear exactly how many of Melbourne's W-class trams have left the country over the years. A number were sold off and exported by savvy ''tram brokers'' during the 1980s; in 1991, The Age reported that 25 had been transported to the US alone, to cities including New Orleans, Seattle and San Jose.

It sparked concerns that brokers were ''profiteering'' by snapping up heritage vehicles cheaply, restoring them and selling them overseas for inflated prices.

Since then, W-class trams have only been given to reputable tram museums or heritage tram operations, says Greg Sutherland, a director of Sydney's Tramway Museum.

Mr Sutherland says W-class trams were valued for their ''robust'' builds, and because ''there have been no trams built in the world in any major numbers outside Europe between the 1950s and the 2000s.''

It is believed that New Orleans's Ws were sold to Memphis, while about five Ws in Seattle are in indefinite storage after the city's popular tourist line was ''temporarily'' closed five years ago.

VicTrack, the state government agency that owns the trams, says that 25 W-class trams have been donated to tram museums or cities in Australia and overseas since the 1980s. In Melbourne, there are 200 are in storage and 38 still operating.

[#Metro]

Ha ha! Maybe some could be donated to the Tramway museum in Brisbane!! 

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

W-class trams: the art and soul of Melbourne town

W-class trams: the art and soul of Melbourne town
Ruth Williams
October 24, 2010

HE HAS made five films and won an Oscar, but when he travels the world there is one question filmmaker Adam Elliot often gets asked: does Melbourne still have its ''gorgeous old trams''?

Melbourne-based Elliot, who won an Oscar in 2003 for his animated film Harvie Krumpet, is backing the campaign to give Melbourne's classic W-class trams a new life, declaring that the vintage vehicles are ''part of our great city's DNA''.

He has called on Melburnians to ''strongly demand'' that the state government reconsider its plan to retire the W-class green and yellow trams from service in 2012, which would leave just a dozen maroon Ws on the CBD City Circle tourist route.

''The W-class tram is such a precious Melbourne icon that its removal would be like Edna not living in Moonee Ponds, Leunig not having his weekly cartoons in The Age, and Luna Park not having a mouth,'' Elliot said.

''Australians have very little history; what they have should be treasured and respected ... let's advance and evolve our wonderful city but not lose its soul in the process.''

His comments follow the launch this month of a campaign by the National Trust, the state tram union and businessman Bill McHarg to find a new use for the trams, which will start leaving Melbourne tram lines forever within two years.

Supporters have suggested using the trams for a hop-on, hop-off tourist route - dubbed ''Melbourne's Joyride'' - that would extend to the inner suburbs.

Mr McHarg this week will meet Transport Minister Martin Pakula, who is yet to unveil any plan for the trams, apart from keeping them on the City Circle.

Mr Pakula has pledged to consider the plan, as has the state opposition.

Elliot is one of several high-profile members of the arts community who have backed the campaign. They include philanthropist, actor and director Carrillo Gantner, former Victorian College of the Arts director Andrea Hull and former arts minister Mary Delahunty.

''They are an absolute icon of Melbourne and are used widely as a symbol of Melbourne,'' Professor Hull said. ''They have an important role in our history.''

Screenwriter David Parker's 1986 film Malcolm featured W-class trams in starring roles, and a title character obsessed with trams.

''There's nothing unique about the new trams; you can see those sorts of trams anywhere in the world,'' Parker said. ''I got on a City Circle tram the other day and it was full of tourists. And they were loving it ... There's just such a charm about them.''

Malcolm, a cult hit still popular almost 25 years after its release, is just one example of the Ws' ubiquitous place in Melbourne culture and the arts.

They had cameos in Steven Spielberg's World War II mini-series The Pacific, in which two characters flirted on a W-class tram. An entire scene in Alvin Purple, the 1973 farce, took place on a W-class tram. And there were more W-class trams than bagpipes in AC/DC's video for It's a Long Way to the Top.

They feature in works by John Brack, Albert Tucker and Reg Mombassa, and served as travelling canvases for artists including Mirka Mora, Howard Arkley and Leunig during the Transporting Art program of the 1980s. And, of course, one had a starring role at the 2006 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, gliding into the MCG on a pair of feathery wings.

''They starred in every bit of promotional material for Melbourne that I have seen from World War II onwards,'' says Rohan Storey, architectural historian with the National Trust.

Meanwhile, musician Adam Dunning is working on a ''Jazz Trams'' project to convert W-class trams into live music venues, which he said would promote arts and culture in Melbourne.

Wake up Melbourne, hang on to the W class trams. Use them around the tourist loops.

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

Baillieu in $8m pledge to keep W-class trams on streets

Baillieu in $8m pledge to keep W-class trams on streets
Richard Willingham
October 27, 2010

MELBOURNE'S iconic W-Class trams will be saved and back on the city's streets if the Coalition wins next month's state election.

Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu yesterday committed to an $8 million plan to restore the trams and return them to service.

"These iconic trams were designed in Melbourne and introduced in the 1920s, and the few we have left should be maintained and preserved as heritage and cultural icons of our city," Mr Baillieu said.

"Of those, most have been left to rot under a Labor government and may end up on the scrap heap. This will require the restoration of the trams to as close to original condition as possible, while still meeting current safety levels.''

The state government has been urged by groups, including the National Trust, to reconsider its plan to retire the W-class green and yellow trams from commuter routes in 2012. Under Labor, about a dozen maroon trams will continue to run the City Circle tourist route.

There are 38 W-class trams still in service, and another 200 in storage.

The Coalition is promising to work with Yarra Trams, the National Trust and local councils to restore operations on key routes including in the CBD and along Brunswick and Chapel streets.

The trams would only operate outside peak periods.

Restoration work would include updating the trams' braking systems, improving driver safety and passenger comfort, as well as painting and restoring the W-class heritage livery.

Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula's spokesman Stephen Moynihan said the government had always supported the continued operation of the trams, which is why they run on the City Circle.

''Commuters in Melbourne expect reliability and comfort on their tram services and no matter how much money you spend restoring the W-class trams they are always going to operate at lower speeds and have issues with accessibility for many commuters,'' Mr Moynihan said.

Mr Pakula will meet W-class campaigner Bill McHarg today to discuss Mr McCarg's plan for a hop-on, hop-off tourist route that would take in 60 attractions from Federation Square to St Kilda.

[#Metro]

Is the W-Class possible to run on the Gold Coast Light Rail system? Can the voltage be changed?
The Gold Coast could acquire a few and run them on the weekend or when frequencies are lower as a Tourist thing.

Thanks Melbourne!!!

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

Trams could promote us overseas

Trams could promote us overseas
Ruth Williams
October 31, 2010

DOZENS of W-class trams languishing in storage could be restored and leased to cities overseas as ''roving ambassadors'' for Melbourne, under a plan put to Transport Minister Martin Pakula by the group campaigning to save the vintage vehicles.

Businessman Bill McHarg, the state tram union and the National Trust - who this month launched a campaign to keep the classic trams on Melbourne streets - have also asked the state government to host a day-long summit to consider ideas for the future of the trams.

And they have called for the maroon trams operating on the City Circle tourist route to be restored to their original green-and-cream livery.

The tram alliance members met Mr Pakula on Wednesday to push their case for keeping the trams on Melbourne streets. It is proposing the Ws be used for a new hop-on, hop-off tourist route that would travel to St Kilda and other inner suburbs.

But Mr McHarg told The Sunday Age that the proposed tram summit or ''creative workshop'' - which would involve parties interested in the trams' future - would welcome other suggested uses for the trams.

The W-class trams are slated to be removed from commuter routes from 2012, leaving the City Circle trams and the restaurant trams as their only presence in Melbourne.

Mr Pakula told reporters on Wednesday that it was his ''intention'' to act on the W-class trams before the election.

The meeting with tram alliance members came a day after the Liberal opposition promised to spend $8 million restoring W-class trams and testing their return on certain routes. Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu said the Ws' ''future will be guaranteed'' under a Baillieu government.

But Premier John Brumby told ABC radio that although he supported using W-class trams on tourist routes, safety, speed and access concerns meant there were ''serious challenges'' in continuing to use them as part of the ''regular transport system''.

The ''roving ambassadors'' idea, the tram workshop request and repainting the City Circle trams were among five points put to Mr Pakula by the campaigners on Wednesday.

They also asked the government to consider retaining the Ws - after extensive refurbishment - on some commuter routes.

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

Victory is ours: the rattlers roll on

Victory is ours: the rattlers roll on
Ruth Williams
November 14, 2010

THE campaign to rescue Melbourne's classic W-class trams has scored a victory, with the state government agreeing to a tram summit to consider options for the future of the vintage vehicles.

Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula said on Friday that Labor would hold a W-class tram workshop next year, following a request put to the minister last month by the group campaigning to save the Ws.

It follows Labor's promise on Wednesday to spend $6.3 million refurbishing Melbourne's fleet of operational W-class trams - including repainting the maroon City Circle tourist trams to their original green and cream livery.

Describing the Ws as ''synonymous'' with Victoria, Premier John Brumby also promised to boost the frequency of City Circle services, expand the fleet of operating Ws from 38 to 40, and to continue running W-Class trams on route 30, a short city run from La Trobe Street to Victoria Street, at weekends.

It follows a Sunday Age-backed campaign by businessman Bill McHarg, the National Trust and the state tram union to find a future for the W-class trams after they are retired from commuter services in 2012. Until last week the government had revealed no plans for the future of the Ws besides keeping a limited number on the City Circle route.

At a meeting with Mr Pakula last month, the tram alliance made requests including repainting the City Circle trams, keeping a number of Ws in service, and holding the tram workshop.

Paul Roser, conservation manager at the National Trust, said the government's announcements last week were ''pretty much everything we could have hoped for''.

Mr McHarg also welcomed the announcement.

Mr Pakula said the W-class tram workshop would bring together people with different views on the future of the trams. Almost 200 W-class trams are in storage at Newport and Preston.

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

Budget to fund more W-Class trams

Budget to fund more W-Class trams
May 2, 2011

SOME of Melbourne's W-class trams are to be refurbished under a four-year program to get more of the heritage fleet of vehicles - much of which is now deteriorating in storage - out on the city's roads.

Expected to be included in tomorrow's budget is funding of about $8 million for maintenance and restoration of several W-Class trams.

The maintenance works will include updating brakes on the trams, and painting and restoring their heritage livery.

Around 40 W-class trams are now in service in Melbourne, while between 150 and 200 of the vintage trams are stored in rail yards in Preston and Newport.

While the state government promised in last year's election to begin restoration works on the trams in storage, much of the money is likely to ultimately go to refurbishing W-class trams already operating on the free City Circle route, the Chapel Street route and the No. 30 route up La Trobe Street in the CBD.

Refurbished W-class trams would operate not just on the routes they already serve but also - outside morning and afternoon peak hours - through the CBD and on routes through St Kilda, South Melbourne, Fitzroy, Brunswick and Coburg.

CLAY LUCAS

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/budget-to-fund-more-wclass-trams-20110501-1e34r.html#ixzz1L7sbm7ek

[ozbob]

State government announces more W-class trams to be restored and placed into service

[Gazza]

Ugh, looks like the Victorians have no intention of a faster, more reliable and a more comfortable and accessible tram network.

Its like if Qld were to start running those steam trains as part of normal commuter services. Yes they're fine if it's a special event, or on a dedicated tourist railway, but not for day to day use.

but If a W class tram turned up, and I couldn't get a seat due to the lower capacity compared to modern articulated trams, I'd feel pretty annoyed. I feel sorry for wheelchair users on these routes....It'll be russian roulette as to wether a tram they can board actually turns up when they need to travel.

[Golliwog]

If you could couple them together, it could make up for the capacity issue, but your right about the wheelchair issue, I can't see an easy way around that without making modifications to the tram.

[colinw]

The Age: The Call of the Tram.     Can anyone think of a word that starts with "W" and rhymes with "anchor"?

[Golliwog]

The Age: The Call of the Tram.     Can anyone think of a word that starts with "W" and rhymes with "anchor"?

This is the crap that passes for an opinion piece these days is it? I do remember one a few months ago in the Courier from some woman about how she used to catch the train as a school girl, hadn't since and then did this year and lo and behold, things had changed from back then.