Article: Bee trams to stay, but at what price?

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From the Melbourne Age click here!


http://images.theage.com.au/2010/10/12/1982827/1_beetram-420x0.jpg

The state government is set to buy the five ''bumblebee'' trams it has rented from France since 2008. Photo: Justin McManus

Bee trams to stay, but at what price?

Bee trams to stay, but at what price?
Clay Lucas
October 13, 2010

The state government is set to buy the five ''bumblebee'' trams it has rented from France since 2008.

The state government is set to buy the five ''bumblebee'' trams it has rented from France since 2008. Photo: Justin McManus

PREMIER John Brumby knows how much Victoria will pay to buy five ''bumblebee'' trams that until now have only been rented from the French town of Mulhouse.

But that doesn't mean Victorians need to know just yet, Mr Brumby said yesterday, when asked what price the state would have to pay for the distinctively painted yellow trams, which were rented from France in 2008 for about $10 million.

''I know, but you don't need to know because it's an amount that will be disclosed when the deal is concluded,'' Mr Brumby said yesterday, at a media conference called to announce the imminent purchase of the trams, and extra tram services.
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The five Alstom Citadis trams were shipped to Australia at a cost of about $500,000 each. On top of this the state has paid $9 million to rent them for four years.

The trams, which run only on the 96 route between East Brunswick and St Kilda, were due to return to Mulhouse next December, which would have left Yarra Trams with too few trams to run some of its busiest lines.

Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said he was not surprised Mr Brumby would not disclose the likely price the government would pay for the trams.

''We will have been ripped off by the owners of these trams because they know full well we can't afford to send them back. Once again, this is appalling planning," Mr Mulder said.

The government and Yarra Trams also announced extra services on the 82, 19, 55, 57 and 59 tram routes.

Yarra Trams will also reinstate a route 31 tram that previously ran each lunchtime between Docklands and Fitzroy. Forty-four tram services each day will run on the route along Collins Street between 11am and 2.30pm.

[#Metro]

The five Alstom Citadis trams were shipped to Australia at a cost of about $500,000 each. On top of this the state has paid $9 million to rent them for four years.

The trams, which run only on the 96 route between East Brunswick and St Kilda, were due to return to Mulhouse next December, which would have left Yarra Trams with too few trams to run some of its busiest lines.

Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said he was not surprised Mr Brumby would not disclose the likely price the government would pay for the trams.

''We will have been ripped off by the owners of these trams because they know full well we can't afford to send them back. Once again, this is appalling planning," Mr Mulder said.

Actually the trams could be a steal. They're second hand, so the price will almost certainly be lower than a brand new one. And Adelaide is running trams that were surplus from Madrid.

Brisbane City Council buses cost $500 000 - $750 000 each, brand new. There is a shipping cost I suspect, but that's justto get the parts here. For four years the trams have cost $450 000 each to rent, which seems like a lot, but when you consider that these trams together have a capacity of 18.5 buses in total (all combined) maybe not...

[ozbob]

Articulated 'Bee' tram turning into Spencer St in front of Southern Cross Station

Photography R Dow August 2010