Yarra Trams - Between the Wars

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1919

10 March
The Victorian Railways opened a new tram line from Sandringham to Black Rock.
A depot was constructed in the Sandringham Station yard.

1 November
The Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board was formed to take over, operate and unify the various tramways, with the exception of the two lines operated by the Victorian Railways.

1920

27 January
A tram depot was built at Miller Street and St Georges Road, and was called Preston Depot. (From 1955, when a new depot was built at East Preston, this depot was referred to as the Thornbury Depot or Old Preston Depot.)

2 February
The Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) assumed control of the Northcote cable line and five municipal electric tramways:

Prahran and Malvern Tramways Trust (PMTT)
Hawthorn Tramways Trust (HTT)
Melbourne, Brunswick and Coburg Tramways Trust (MBCTT)
Fitzroy, Northcote and Preston Tramways Trust (FNPTT)
Footscray Tramways Trust (FTT)

The MMTB inherited a cable tramway and five separate electric tramways with a wide variety of rolling stock. The Board decided to convert all cable tramways to electric traction.

1 April
Tram lines constructed by the Fitzroy, Northcote and Preston Tramways Trust, from the North Fitzroy cable car terminus to East and West Preston,were opened by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board.

2 February
The Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) assumed control of the Northcote cable line and five municipal electric tramways:

Prahran and Malvern Tramways Trust (PMTT)
Hawthorn Tramways Trust (HTT)
Melbourne, Brunswick and Coburg Tramways Trust (MBCTT)
Fitzroy, Northcote and Preston Tramways Trust (FNPTT)
Footscray Tramways Trust (FTT)

The MMTB inherited a cable tramway and five separate electric tramways with a wide variety of rolling stock. The Board decided to convert all cable tramways to electric traction.

1921

6 September
The three tram lines constructed by the Footscray Tramways Trust were opened by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board.
The lines ran from Footscray Railway Station to Russell Street, Ballarat Road and Williamstown Road.
Footscray depot was built in Buckley Street.

20 October
The service from St Kilda Beach to Deepdene was discontinued. The service from St Kilda Beach via Balaclava and Glenferrie Roads to Victoria Bridge continued to operate.

1922

1 August
After negotiations, the 'Essendon' lines and rolling stock of the private NMETL Company were purchased by the MMTB.

1923

7 July
A new line was opened in Church Street, Hawthorn, from Barkers Road to Hawthorn Bridge. It linked the Kew lines with the Hawthorn line.

23 August
Glenhuntly Depot opened (located in Glenhuntly Road).

5 November
The Zoo horse tram depot and all rolling stock were destroyed by fire during a police strike. The line was subsequently abandoned. This was the last horse tramway to operate in Melbourne.

1924

12 January
The Puckle Street line from Moonee Ponds Junction to the railway station was closed.

June
Essendon Depot was expanded.

8 July
The first section of the new Chapel Street line was opened, from Swan and Church Streets, Richmond to Toorak Road, South Yarra.

20 October
The second stage of the Chapel Street line was opened, from Swan and Church Streets, Richmond to Victoria Street, North Richmond.

October
Construction of a tramway workshop commenced in Preston at St Georges Road and Miller Street, opposite the Preston Depot.

1925

11 January
An extension from Strathalbyn Street, Kew, to Burke Road, East Kew, via High Street was opened.

1 March
The Brighton Cemetery line was opened from Glenhuntly Road to North Road, South Caulfield, via Hawthorn Road.

24 March
A connecting line was opened from Lygon Street to St Georges Road via Brunswick Road, Holden Street, Pilkington Street and Barkly Street.

June
The paint shop and body shop were both completed at the new Preston Workshops.

19 July
The West Brunswick line was opened, from William and Collins Streets to Daly Street, West Brunswick, travelling via William Street, Peel Street, Flemington Road, Royal Park, Grantham Street and Dawson Street.

29 August
The Windsor - St Kilda cable tram line was closed.

10 October
The West Brunswick line was extended from Daly Street via Melville Road to Albion Street.

31 October
The St Kilda Beach via South Melbourne line was opened. It ran from City and St Kilda Roads to Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, travelling via Sturt Street, Eastern Road, Heather Street, Park Street, Clarendon Street, reserve track next to Albert Road, Canterbury Road, Mills Street, Danks Street, Patterson Street, Park Street, Mary Street and Beaconsfield Parade.
The service was operated from the new Hanna Street Depot (renamed South Melbourne Depot in 1960) which was opened on the same day. This depot was located in Hanna Street (later Kingsway) between Dorcas Street and Bank Street.

26 December
The Brighton Road to Swanston Street cable line was closed for conversion to electric traction.

27 December
The St Kilda Beach - Windsor line was opened, on the route of the former cable tramway.

1926

24 January
The Swanston Street section of tram track was opened from Lonsdale Street to City Road, replacing the cable line.

28 March
The St Kilda Road section of tram track between City Road and Domain Road was opened, replacing the cable line.

28 August
The Prahran cable line was closed in preparation for conversion to electric traction.

29 August
The Elsternwick - St Kilda Junction line was opened, replacing the cable line together with an extension to Glenhuntly Road.

1 September
The Victorian Railways opened an extension of the Sandringham tram line from Black Rock to Beaumaris. The line ran through a very sparsely populated area, and because of this it was referred to by locals as the 'bush tramway'.

1 October
The Toorak cable line was closed in preparation for conversion to electric traction.

31 October
The Chapel Street line was extended south from Toorak Road to Windsor Railway Station, built along the former cable route.

19 December
The Chapel Street line was extended south from Windsor Station to Brighton Road.
The Glenhuntly Road line was extended from Grange Road to Murrumbeena.

1927

17 April
The Toorak line was opened from St Kilda Road to Orrong Road via Domain Road, Park Street and Toorak Road. The line replaced the cable tram route, with an extension from the former cable terminus at Irving Street to Orrong Road.

8 May
The Toorak line was extended from Orrong Road to Glenferrie Road via Toorak Road.

15 May
The West Brunswick line was extended from Albion Street to Moreland Road.

26 June
The West Brunswick line was extended from Moreland Road to West Coburg (Bell Street).

29 June
The Richmond cable line was closed.

14 July
The first stage of the Richmond cable line conversion was opened, from Swanston Street to Lonsdale Street, via Flinders Street and Spencer Street.

17 September
The next stage of the Richmond cable line conversion was opened, from Swanston Street to Simpson Street, East Melbourne.

4 December
The final stage of the Richmond cable line conversion was opened, from Simpson Street to Hawthorn Bridge via Bridge Road.

26 December
The Preston Workshops were completed and opened, featuring a foundry, truck shop, machine shop, engineering shop and blacksmith shop.

1928

13 April
Kew Depot was extended.

24 June
A connecting line was opened in Wattletree Road from Dandenong Road to Glenferrie Road.

1 July
The Wattle Park line was extended from Boundary Road (later Warrigal Road) to Elgar Road.

19 December
Route numbers were introduced.
Previously, route numbers had been used on the ex-PMTT and ex-HTT lines but were since discontinued.

1929

23 March
Preston Depot was enlarged.

13 July
The Victoria Bridge to Brunswick Street cable line was closed for conversion to electric traction.

1 August
Tram tracks were installed on the rebuilt Spencer Street Bridge over the Yarra River, in preparation for the planned South Melbourne line (eventually opened in 1937).

4 August
The Victoria Street line from Racecourse Road to Mount Alexander Road was closed.

14 September
The Collins Street cable line was closed for conversion to electric traction.

15 September
A line was opened from Victoria Bridge to Brunswick Street via Victoria Street and Victoria Parade, replacing the cable tram line.

21 November
Route numbers were allocated for all Swanston Street services.

December
The Collins Street line was opened, replacing the cable tram line.
Camberwell Depot, located in Riversdale Road near Camberwell Junction, was opened.

1930

12 July
The Fitzroy cable line along Brunswick Street was closed for conversion to electric traction.

26 October
The Brunswick Street line was opened, from Victoria Parade to Barkly Street, North Fitzroy, replacing the cable tram.

1931

1 September
The Black Rock - Beaumaris 'bush tramway' was closed due to extremely poor patronage caused by a lack of development in the area.

1934

24 June
The Elsternwick to City, Carnegie to Elsternwick and Darling Road to Elsternwick services were combined to form two routes, one from the City to Carnegie and one from the City to Darling Road, both running via Elsternwick.

1935

20 July
The North and West Melbourne cable lines were closed. The North Melbourne line was to be converted to electric traction and the West Melbourne line was replaced by a bus service.

24 September
The North Melbourne line was opened. It ran from Flemington Road to Elizabeth Street (outside the Victoria Market), travelling via Abbotsford Street, Queensberry Street, Errol Street and Victoria Street.

29 September
The Elizabeth Street cable line was closed for conversion to electric traction.

17 November
The Elizabeth Street line was opened from the Victoria Market to Flinders Street on the former cable tram line.

29 December
New track was laid in the central carriageway of Elizabeth Street between Haymarket and Victoria Street, replacing the cable line.

1936

12 January
An electric line opened along Royal Parade from Haymarket to a temporary terminus at Leonard Street, Parkville..

23 February
The Royal Parade line was extended to Park Street, built on the former cable tram line.

26 April
The Brunswick cable tram line conversion was completed. The electric line was opened and ran from Park Street to Moreland Road via Sydney Road.
Brunswick Depot was opened. The depot was built adjacent to the cable car depot.

1 August
The North Carlton (Rathdowne Street) cable tram line was closed and was permanently replaced by a bus service.

1937

7 February
The Essendon line was extended from Gillies Street to Birdwood Street, via Keilor Road.

14 February
All-night tram services commenced on some lines.

13 March
The South Melbourne and Port Melbourne cable lines were closed. The South Melbourne line was to be converted to electric traction; the Port Melbourne line was replaced by a bus service.

13 June
The East Kew line was extended from Burke Road to Bulleen Road.

25 July
The South Melbourne Beach line was opened, replacing the cable car route. It ran from the terminus at Beaconsfield Parade to City Road, via Victoria Avenue, Bridport Street, Montague Street, Park Street and Clarendon Street.

5 December
The Brighton Cemetery line was extended from North Road to East Brighton.