Facts & Figures
Yarra Trams is proudly operated by TransdevTSL, a joint venture partnership between Australia's Transfield Services Ltd and Transdev, the world's largest operator of tram and light rail services. Tram network - Melbourne has the biggest tram network in the world with 249 kilometres of double track.
- There are more than 1770 tram stops across the network.
- Yarra Trams operates 27 tram routes and the free City Circle tourist tram:
Route 1 | East Coburg - South Melbourne Beach | Route 3/3a | East Malvern - Melbourne University (weekends via St Kilda as Route 3a) | Route 5 | Malvern - Melbourne University | Route 6 | Glen Iris - Melbourne University | Route 8 | Moreland - Toorak | Route 16 | Kew - Melbourne University via St Kilda | Route 19 | North Coburg - City Elizabeth St | Route 24 | North Balwyn - City/La Trobe St West End | Route 30 | St Vincent's Plaza - Docklands | Route 31 | St Vincent's Plaza - Collins St West End | Route 48 | North Balwyn - Waterfront City Docklands | Route 55 | West Coburg - Domain Interchange | Route 57 | West Maribyrnong - City Elizabeth St | Route 59 | Airport West - City Elizabeth St | Route 64 | East Brighton - Melbourne University | Route 67 | Carnegie - Melbourne University | Route 70 | Wattle Park - Bourke St Docklands | Route 72 | Camberwell - Melbourne University | Route 75 | Vermont South - City Spencer St | | Route 78 | Prahran - North Richmond | Route 79 | Luna Park/St Kilda Beach - North Richmond | Route 82 | Footscray - Moonee Ponds | Route 86 | Bundoora RMIT - Waterfront City Docklands | Route 95 | City Spencer St - Melbourne Museum | Route 96 | St Kilda Beach - East Brunswick | Route 109 | Box Hill - Port Melbourne | Route 112 | West Preston - St Kilda/Fitzroy St |
Tram Fleet - The 501 trams in the Yarra Trams fleet range from modern low floor vehicles to the iconic W Class -
- 70 A Class
- 132 B Class
- 36 three section C Class low floor Citadis
- 5 five section C2 Class low floor Citadis (also known as "bumblebee" trams)
- 38 three section D Class low floor Combino
- 21 five section D Class low floor Combino
- 52 W Class
- 147 Z Class
Services - Yarra Trams operates Melbourne's entire tram network.
- 27 routes and the free City Circle tourist tram.
- 158.3 million trips were taken on trams in Melbourne in 2007/2008.
- Trams travel more than 24.8 million kilometres each year on timetabled services.
- 31,400 tram services are scheduled each week.
- Trams are in service for more than 20 hours per day.
- Yarra Trams provides drivers and maintenance facilities for The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant.
- Yarra Trams is a 24 hour operation which includes network maintenance and cleaning.
Staff - Yarra Trams employs 1900 staff.
- More than 1150 tram drivers operate services from eight depots - Brunswick, Camberwell, East Preston, Essendon, Glenhuntly, Kew, Malvern and Southbank.
- 265 Authorised Officers provide a visible staff presence from first to last tram ensuring passengers have a valid ticket and travel safely.
Infrastructure projects - Stage one of the St Kilda Road Tram Improvement Strategy (2008) provided platform stops and new tracks in the Arts Precinct.
- More than 276 platform stops have been built across the network to improve accessibility and safety.
- Network extensions to Box Hill (2.2km), Docklands (1km) and Vermont South (3km).
- Rubber boot technology introduced to reduce vibration and wear of tracks, resulting in less noise, longer durability and improved ride for passengers.
- Overhead powerline (trolley wire) renewed along 55km of double track since 18 April 2004.
- Renewal of 20km of underground cable (17.1km more than planned).
- Renewal of 22.9km of double track since 18 April 2004.
- Major track upgrades in CBD (Collins Street and Bourke Street).
- Reconstruction of tram depot facilities at Brunswick, Glenhuntly, Malvern, Kew and Essendon - these are once in 50 year projects.
- Renewal and upgrade of electrical substations including removal of mercury and asbestos.
Involvement in State projects - Yarra Trams is contracted to install the equipment for the new ticketing system.
- Consultation on the procurement of new rolling stock.
- Think Tram (tram priority program) - completed more than 500 treatments (tram priority at traffic lights, installation of raised dividing strips, platform stops and car turn bans etc) which have arrested the decline in tram speed despite increased traffic congestion.
Tram fleet upgrade - The entire tram fleet has been refurbished by Yarra Trams.
- The older fleet is being upgraded to provide more state of the art customer information. Electronic destination boards have been installed on the A Class and Z Class trams.
- Maintenance and technical assistance is provided 24 hours a day.
- 100 low floor trams have been introduced.
- All Z3, A and B Class vehicles have been completely refurbished.
- A and B Class trams and bogies (wheel assemblies) are being overhauled - a once in a million kilometre event.
Awards - John Truscott Design Award for Town Hall platform stop in Collins Street - 2002.
- Department of Human Services, Victorian Inclusion Award for commitment to addressing access issues for people with a disability - 2002.
- Landscape Industries Association of Victoria, Landscape of the Year Award for the Box Hill Tram Terminus - 2003.
- Transfield Services Limited's Franco Belgiorno-Nettis (FBN) Award recognising Yarra Trams as its best peforming business - 2004.
- Transdev Marketing and Innovation Challenge for Melbourne all over campaign - 2004.
- UITP Golden Angel Silver Award for best marketing campaign in Australasia, Melbourne All Over - 2005.
- UITP Golden Angel Silver Award for best marketing campaign in Australasia, Tram Awareness - 2006.
- Savewater! Award for greendepot East Preston - 2007.
- UITP Golden Angel Silver Award for best marketing campaign in Australasia, tramTRACKER- 2007.
- VICTEC Host Employer of the Year (Apprenticeships) - 2007.
- Transdev Marketing and Innovation Challenge for tramTRACKER - 2008.
- UITP Light Rail Award for best accessibility improvement - 2008.
- Australian Marketing Institute Awards for Marketing Excellence, State finalist new product/service launch for tramTRACKER - 2008.
Innovation - Yarra Trams continues to modernise the tram network in Melbourne through innovations such as:
greendepot - The greendepot project is a major environmental initiative aimed at minimising the impact Yarra Trams has on the environment and to encourage staff to adopt sustainable practices at work and home.
- Through the installation of rainwater tanks, waterless urinals and flow restrictors, the greendepot sites at East Preston, Malvern and Glenhuntly are saving more than one million litres of water annually. Harvested rain water is used to wash trams and flush toilets.
Information Technology - First class Information Technology infrastructure has been installed with failover (redundancy and backup) capabilities and disaster recovery through geographically separated data centres.
Low floor trams - Yarra Trams introduced Citadis low floor trams to Melbourne in 2001, followed by the Combino in 2002.
- In 2008, Yarra Trams arranged for the delivery of five additional low floor trams to address increasing tram patronage. These Bumblebee trams are being leased from the French town of Mulhouse under a joint initiative between Yarra Trams and the Victorian Government.
tramTRACKER - tramTRACKER uses the latest real-time technology to track the whereabouts of all trams so passengers can find out when the next tram is due to arrive at their tram stop - by phone, SMS or online.
Passenger Information Displays (PIDs) - PIDs are installed at designated stops across the network to provide real-time information about the expected arrival time of trams at that stop. Selected stops in the CBD also have audio buttons which provide real-time arrival information.
Fleet Operations Centre - Yarra Trams has invested in a state of the art Fleet Operations Centre (FOC) located in South Melbourne.
- The FOC has a video wall fed by VicRoads traffic control cameras and an Automatic Vehicle Monitoring system.
- A special events room is used by Victoria Police and VicRoads as well as other external agencies to coordinate traffic and public transport for major events.
A version of the 'Yarra Trams at a Glance' brochure which contains the above information can be found at this link.Information correct as at October 2008.
 
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