City Circle tram

Not to be confused with City Loop.

The City Circle (Melbourne tram route 35) is a zero-fare tram running around the Melbourne central business district in Australia. Running along the city centre's outermost thoroughfares the route passes many Melbourne attractions including Parliament House, the Old Treasury Building and the developing Docklands waterfront precinct. Since October 2023, it operates in a clockwise direction only.

Route 35 (City Circle)
W class tram W8.961 crosses the Spring Street, Collins Street and MacArthur Street intersection, September 2024
Overview
System	Melbourne tramway network
Operator	Yarra Trams
Depot	Southbank
Vehicle	W class
Began service	29 April 1994
Route
Start	Waterfront City
Via	Harbour Esplanade La Trobe Street Nicholson Street Spring Street Flinders Street Harbour Esplanade
End	Waterfront City
Zone(s)	Free Tram Zone
Timetable	City Circle timetable
Map	City Circle map
Route map ← Route 30  {{{system_nav}}}  Route 48 →

History

City Circle trams on La Trobe Street in August 2007

The tram route was introduced on 29 April 1994,^[1][2] requiring a small track extension along Spring Street, between Collins and Flinders Streets, to enable a complete CBD loop to be formed.^[3][4] The Federal Government's Building Better Cities program funded the $6.4 million capital cost of the track expansion, while the State Government funded the running costs.^[5]

Until January 2003, the western leg of the original route of the tram was down Spencer Street, but the route was then extended west to run through Harbour Esplanade, Docklands.^[6][7][8][9] The travel time around the circle before this change was 40 minutes.^[10]

Between May and November 2005, the route temporarily ran between Flinders Street / Spencer Street and Victoria Parade / Nicholson Street due to the closure and removal of the Flinders Street Overpass over King Street.^[11][12]

During early 2006, new Passenger Information Displays were installed along with Digital Voice Announcements.

In April 2008, the service adopted the daylight saving timetable on a permanent basis, operating from 10:00 to 21:00 every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The end of service at other times is 18:00.^[13]

On 30 May 2009, the route was altered for a second time, being extended from Harbour Esplanade to the NewQuay and Waterfront City precincts via Docklands Drive. This made the route an elongated 'q'.^[14][15]

Services after 18:00 between Thursday and Sunday were removed in November 2020.^[16]

Due to driver shortages, the route's operator, Yarra Trams, has found it hard to run all City Circle tram services. Due to this, since 30 October 2023, the route only runs in a clockwise direction between 9:30 and 17:30 daily.^[17][18]

Route

Interior of a W class tram in City Circle service

W class tram on Flinders Street in August 2008

The route of the City Circle trams roughly follows the outer edges of the Hoddle Grid, with three diversions. It takes in all of La Trobe Street, Harbour Esplanade and Flinders Street. It follows Spring Street between Flinders and Bourke Streets, but travels along Nicholson Street and Victoria Street before turning into La Trobe Street. At the junction of Harbour Esplanade and Latrobe Street trams turn off the loop to run to and from a terminus towards the end of Docklands Drive, Waterfront City.

Operation

The City Circle route is operated with heritage W class trams, restored to original condition as part of the W8 upgrade. As of 2020, these are the only W-class trams on the system, and there are no plans to retire them. The City Circle trams originally sported a unique maroon livery promoting the service, however as part of the W8 upgrade the trams were restored back to their original green and cream livery. Until 2014, the City Circle was one of several routes to run W-class trams (30, 78 and 79) but the remaining routes controversially had their W-class trams removed, mostly replaced by A class. Trams display the route number 35.^[19][20] The City Circle operates at a headway of 12 minutes in the clockwise direction, with the service taking approximately 60 minutes to complete a loop. An average of three million passengers use the service every year, with each tram circling the city 9 times a day, or 12 times when the tram operates to 21:00.^[13]

Route map

v t e City Circle Tram
City Circle via Docklands, La Trobe Street & Flinders Street Free tram zone covers entire route
Legend
Suburb Street Stop No. Waterfront City Connections Docklands Docklands Drive D11 The District Docklands 70, 86 D10 NewQuay Footscray Road Siding   Harbour Esplanade D2 Central Pier 30, 75 Harbour Esplanade Tram 70, 75     Camberwell Junction   La Trobe Street D1 Docklands Stadium La Trobe Street Bridge Melbourne CBD La Trobe Street 119 Spencer Street 86 Spencer Street Tram 86     Bourke Street 1 Spencer Street 86 William Street Tram 58 West Coburg   Toorak Flagstaff station ●●●●●●●●●●●●●● 3 Flagstaff station 58; Flagstaff station 5 Melbourne Central station 19, 57, 59 Elizabeth Street Tram 19, 57, 59 North Melbourne   Flinders Street station Melbourne Central station ●●●●●●●●●●●●●● Swanston Street Tram 1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, 72 Melbourne University   St Kilda Road 6 Melbourne Central & State Library stations 1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, 72 8 Exhibition Street 9 Victoria Street 30 La Trobe Street Nicholson Street Tram 30 Tram 86, 96   Nicholson Street 11 Victoria Parade Victoria Parade 10 Parliament station Parliament station ●●●●●●●●●●●●●● Bourke Street Tram 86, 96    Bourke Street Mall   Spring Street 0 Bourke Street 86, 96 Collins Street Tram 11, 12, 48, 109 St Vincent's Plaza   Southern Cross station Wellington Parade Tram 48, 75    Hawthorn Bridge   Flinders Street 8 Spring Street 75 Batman Avenue Tram 70    Wattle Park 6 Russell Street 70 605 Swanston Street Tram 1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, 72 St Kilda Road   Melbourne University 5 Flinders Street station 1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, 72 Flinders Street station ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● Elizabeth Street Tram 19, 57, 59     North Melbourne 4 Flinders Street station 19, 57, 59 3 Market Street 58; Queen Street buses Market Street Tram 58 Toorak   West Coburg 2 King Street 1 Spencer Street 12, 96, 109 Spencer Street Tram 12, 96, 109 Casino/MCEC   Collins/Bourke Street Flinders Street Viaduct Docklands Flinders Street D6 Flinders Street West 232, 235, 237   McCrae Street D5 The Goods Shed   Harbour Esplanade D4 Docklands Park Collins Street Tram 11, 48 St Vincent's Plaza   Victoria Harbour D3 Docklands Stadium La Trobe Street Tram 30, 86     La Trobe Street/Bourke Street D2 Central Pier 30, 86 Footscray Road Siding   Docklands Drive D10 NewQuay D11 The District Docklands 70, 86 Suburb Street Stop No. Waterfront City Connections

References

1. City Circle Opens Trolley Wire issue 258 August 1994 pages 16–22
2. Public transport – City Loop history ^{[dead link‍]}
3. Melbourne Track and Overhead Work Trolley Wire issue 256 February 1994 page 26
4. Lyndsay Neilson (2008). Butcher, John (ed.). Getting implementation going. epress.anu.edu.au. doi:10.22459/AUC.04.2008. ISBN 9781921313776. Retrieved 1 November 2010. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
5. Lyndsay Neilson (2008). Butcher, John (ed.). Appendix 1: Funding Allocation, Victorian Area Strategies. epress.anu.edu.au. doi:10.22459/AUC.04.2008. ISBN 9781921313776. Retrieved 1 November 2010. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
6. City Circle trams route change Trolley Wire issue 292 February 2003 page 27
7. "New Docklands Tram Line". Newsrail. Vol. 31, no. 3. Vic: ARHS Victoria Division. March 2003. p. 94. ISSN 0310-7477. OCLC 19676396.
8. "City Circle Tram now extends to the Docklands Precinct". Victrip. 26 January 2003. Archived from the original on 15 April 2003.
9. History of Melbourne Trams Routes from 1950 to 2009 Yarra Trams
10. "City Circle Tram Extended to Melbourne's Waterfront at Docklands". Minister for Major Projects, Minister for Public Transport. 23 January 2003. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
11. "Flinders Street Overpass Removal". Yara Trams. 20 May 2005. Archived from the original on 23 August 2006.
12. "Routes 13, 24, 30, 48, 70, 75, 86, 109, 112 & City Circle - From Monday 21 November 05". 14 November 2005. Archived from the original on 20 August 2006.
13. "City Circle Tram to Run When the Sun goes Down". Premier of Victoria. 6 April 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
14. Yarra Trams (1 May 2009). "Media Release: Popular City Circle tram extended to Docklands Drive". www.yarratrams.com.au. Archived from the original on 25 September 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
15. Tram changes Railway Digest August 2009 page 14
16. to Routes 12, 30, 35, 86, 96 and 109 Public Transport Victoria
17. "Tram timetable changes". PTV. Archived from the original on 4 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
18. Hatch, Patrick (21 September 2023). "St Kilda, City Circle heritage trams cut in timetable overhaul". The Age. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
19. Melbourne – Trams Trolley Wire issue 257 May 1994 page 8
20. Route 35 Public Transport Victoria

External links

Media related to City Circle Tram at Wikimedia Commons