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Trams in Sydney

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Sydney, the largest city in Australia, once had the largest tram system in Australia, the second largest in the British Empire (after London), and one of the largest in the world. It was also extremely intensively worked, with about 1,600 cars in service at any one time at its peak during the 1930s (cf. about 500 trams in Melbourne today). Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, there was an average of more than one tram journey per day made by every man and woman, infant and child in the city. Patronage peaked in 1945 at the extraordinary level of 405 million. The system was in place from 1861, until its winding down in the 1950s and eventual closure in 1961. It had a maximum street mileage of 181 miles (291 km) in 1923.

In 1997, more than 30 years after trams disappeared from Sydney streets, the Metro Light Rail, a privately owned single line system opened. There have been various proposals to extend this system into the CBD and inner suburbs but none has come to fruition.

History

Early tramways

Sydney's first tram was horse-drawn, running from the old Sydney Railway station to Circular Quay along Pitt Street. Built in 1861, the design was compromised by the desire to haul railway freight wagons along the line to supply city businesses, in addition to the passenger traffic. This resulted in a track which protruded from the road surface and damaged the wheels of wagons trying to cross it. Hard campaigning by competing omnibus owners led to the closure of the line in 1866.

After this initial failure, it was not to be until 1879 that a steam tramway was established. Despite several accidents, it was a great success and the system expanded rapidly through the city and inner suburbs. The trams comprised a Baldwin locomotive hauling one or more double decker carriages. A preserved Baldwin steam tram motor can be found today at the Powerhouse Museum. Only two routes - the Watsons Bay and North Sydney lines - relied on cable trams because of the steep terrain involved.

Electrification

Electrification started in 1898, and most of the system was converted by 1910 (although the Parramatta steam system remained until 1943). Service began with C-class saloon cars, followed by D-class combination cars. In contrast to other cities which started with combination cars and toastracks, then quickly abandoned them for dropcentre and saloon cars, Sydney started by going the other way. It was not until the 1930s with the introduction of the R-class that the drop-centre saloon tram, widely used elsewhere in Australia, finally came to Sydney.

Demise and closure

By the 1920s, the system had reached its maximum extent. In many ways, the Sydney tram system was a victim of its own success. The overcrowded and heaving trams running at a high frequency, in competition with growing private motor car and bus use created congestion. Competition from the private car, private bus operators and the perception of traffic congestion led to the gradual closure of lines from the 1940s. Overseas transport experts were called upon to advise the city on its post-war transport issues and recommended closure of the system. Closure was supported by the NRMA but generally went against public opinion. Never-the-less, closure became government policy and the system was wound down in stages, with final closure in 1961, upon withdrawal of the last service to La Perouse

Services

Electric Tram services covered most parts of what is now the Inner West, North Shore, eastern suburbs and inner southern suburbs of Sydney.

City Service

Crowds around a tram in Pitt St, 1949
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Crowds around a tram in Pitt St, 1949

Eastern Suburbs Lines

Eastern Suburbs Lines map
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Eastern Suburbs Lines map

Circular Quay in about 1900
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Circular Quay in about 1900

Circular Quay was the focal terminal point of most services to the eastern suburbs, and allowed easy transfer to ferries. For many years, 27 regular services operated from Circular Quay. A number of fulltime services also operated from a secondary terminus at 'Railway' (Railway Square at Central Station).

Kings Cross intersection in the 1950s
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Kings Cross intersection in the 1950s

Bayswater Road Kings Cross in 1929
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Bayswater Road Kings Cross in 1929

South-Western Lines

Western Lines

Tram on Broadway in 1930
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Tram on Broadway in 1930

The majority of services operated from Fort Macquarie and Circular Quay, down George St to various destinations. In the peak hours and other busy periods, supplementary services operated from Railway Square.

North Shore Lines

A feature of these lines was the underground tram terminus at Wynyard railway station (the only in Australia), and the tracks over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Trams ran over the eastern side of the harbour bridge (now road lanes) from a tram platform at Milson's Point similar to the existing railway station, and dived underground into platforms 1 and 2 of Wynyard station. These 2 platforms were converted into a car park after the tramway's closure. The existing Wynyard station's railway platforms are thus numbered 3-6

From Wynyard to....

North Shore Cross Country Lines-

Manly Lines

Enfield Lines

Southern Suburbs Lines

Southern Sydney tramways map
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Southern Sydney tramways map

The following lines were all isolated from the main system.

Castle Hill Line

Rollingstock

Perhaps the most renowned of the electric trams that operated in Sydney were the O and P class trams, known at the time as the footboard cars, after the surrounding footboard that conductors precariously balanced upon. These were later kown as the toastrack trams for their crossbench wooden seating layout. They had a seating capacity of 80 persons, and a crush capacity of 150 persons, and it was this capacity that was their selling point for Sydney's crowded system. They were commonly coupled together to run as double trams. 626 O class and 258 P class trams were constructed from 1908, and some remained in service until 1960. The first modern corridor style trams were introduced in 1933, known as the R class. The final order of cars was for the R1 class in the early 1950s. The R class were unable to be coupled together, but offered their passengers a more comfortable ride away from the elememts. Many also featured uphostered seating. Some of these cars had not been in service long enough for a major overhaul before their withdrawal in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Upon withdrawal, cars were stripped of their metal components and bogies, then burnt in an area of the Randwick Workshops known as 'burning hill'.

Accidents

Depots

Fort Macquarie Tram Depot
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Fort Macquarie Tram Depot

Remains today

Legacy

The Future

Map showing proposed light rail system.
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Map showing proposed light rail system.

The council of the City of Sydney has proposed a major set of extensions to the current light rail line, including a loop line through the CBD and numerous branches to inner suburbs, of which many would replicate historic lines. The New South Wales government, however, is not supportive of light rail development and therefore plans at this stage are dormant.

References

External links

 


From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
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