4 Dec 2022: 1968 Brisbane Tram Timetables

[ozbob]

1968 Brisbane Tram Timetables

4th December 2022

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) is pleased to release a copy of the 1968 Brisbane Tram Network timetable for interest.

RAIL Back On Track acknowledges and the thanks the Brisbane Tramway Museum Society for making this information available.

The following timetables from 1968 have been provided:

- Ascot Tram Service (Oriel Park No. 70, Doomben No. 60)
- Ashgrove Tram Service (Ashgrove No. 76, Oleander Drive No. 66, Stewarts Road No. 56)
- Balmoral Tram Service (Balmoral No. 70, No. 60, Barton Rd No. 50)
- Bardon Tram Service (Bardon No. 74, Paddington No. 64, Bernhard St No. 44)
- Belmont Tram Service (Belmont No. 96, Camp Hill No. 05)
- Chermside Tram Service (Chermside No. 72, Lutwyche No. 62, Kedron Bridge No. 52)
- Clayfield Tram Service (Clayfield No. 71, Oriel Road No. 61)
- Dutton Park Tram Service (Dutton Park No. 78)
- Enoggera Tram Service (Enoggera No. 72, Newmarket No. 62)
- Grange Tram Service (Grange No. 76, Kedron Brook Road, No. 66)
- Mt Gravatt Tram Service (Mt. Gravatt No.99, Nursery Road No.69, Holland Park No. 59)
- New Farm Wharf Tram Service (New Farm Wharf No. 78, New Farm Ferry No. 68)
- Salisbury Tram Service (Salisbury No. 71, Moorooka No. 51)
- St Pauls Tce Tram Service (No. 07)
- Stafford Tram Service and Feeder Buses (No. 74)
- West End Tram Service (West End No. 77. Dornoch Tce No. 67)

> https://backontrack.org/docs/trams/tram_tt_1968.pdf

Trams ran in Brisbane from 1885 to 1969. Brisbane City Council took control of the tram network after it was formed in 1925. In the years before the car, Brisbane's growth was essentially 'tram-oriented development'. BCC back then was careful to ensure that buses did not wastefully compete with trams. Feeder bus services appear in the Stafford Tram service timetable that proceeded from the tram terminus at Stafford Road. These buses did not run to the city.

Tram services then offered high off-peak frequency. During the day, trams generally arrived every 12 minutes, becoming less frequent in the afternoon. Extra, supplementary trams were added from North Quay or Fortitude Valley. Trams ran every 20 minutes or better on a Saturday. On Sunday, trams generally ran half hourly, likely a reflection of restricted shop trading for Sundays.

Not much remains of the tram network today. The Route 375 bus is essentially the No.74 tram service along the same route. Other routes such as Balmoral (incorporated into Bulimba 230 today) are half-hourly bus services. Many suburbs have less bus frequency today than what the trams provided back then.

The Future

The Busway Electric Rapid Transport BERT ('Brisbane Metro') electric bi-articulated bus plan is the next step in the evolution of Brisbane's public transport. However, it is limited to busway operation only. We think the basic task ahead for BCC and Translink is to essentially double the number of high frequency ' BUZ ' routes in the suburbs along main and local arterial roads such as to Bulimba, Centenary, Yeronga and Albany Creek. That way Brisbane residents can have something once again as useful and frequent as the Brisbane tram network once was.

References:

1. Trams in Brisbane https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Brisbane
2. Brisbane Tramway Museum http://www.brisbanetramwaymuseum.org/
3. Brisbane City Council 1968 Tram Timetable https://backontrack.org/docs/trams/tram_tt_1968.pdf

Photographs: State Library of Queensland

Tram coming off the Victoria Bridge, Brisbane, ca. 1965
https://collections.slq.qld.gov.au/viewer/IE2708552



Trams lined up in Queen Street, Brisbane, ca. 1965
https://collections.slq.qld.gov.au/viewer/IE2708555

[ozbob]

Remembering the Brisbane Tramways - Something in the Air - Video
Paul & Linda Campbell



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