Melbourne tram route 72

Melbourne tram route 72 is operated by Yarra Trams on the Melbourne tram network from Melbourne University to Camberwell. The 16.8 kilometre route is operated out of Malvern depot with Z and D class trams.

Route 72
D1 class tram on Swanston Street, December 2014
Overview
System	Melbourne
Operator	Yarra Trams
Depot	Malvern
Vehicle	Z class D1 class
Began service	1 November 1970
Route
Start	Melbourne University
Via	Swanston Street St Kilda Road Commercial Road Malvern Road Burke Road
End	Camberwell
Length	16.8 kilometres
Timetable	Route 72 timetable
Map	Route 72 map
Route map {{{map}}} ← Route 70  {{{system_nav}}}  Route 75 →

History

Route 72 was first allocated to the line between Camberwell (Burke Road) and the City (Swanston Street) on 1 November 1970.^[1][2] Prior to that, the line to Camberwell was serviced by route 7. The change was at first due to operations of the Camberwell line being shifted from Malvern depot to Camberwell depot. Even though the route was subsequently returned to Malvern in August 1979, the number 72 was kept.^[2][3] Before 1970, Route 72 was a short-working of the Wattle Park line, for trams that terminated at Riversdale instead of Wattle Park.^[4] Trams traditionally terminated at the Victoria Street terminus, but following an accident in 1991, trams instead terminated at the Queensberry Street crossover. Due to congestion during peak hours at the crossover, some trams continued north to Melbourne University. Finally on 17 January 1996, a permanent shunt was built at Melbourne University. From then on, route 72 trams were altered run full-time to Melbourne University.^[4]

The origins of route 72 lie in separate tram lines. The section of track between Queensberry Street (Stop 4) and Commercial Road (Stop 25) is the oldest section of this route, dating back to the Brighton Road cable tram which opened on 11 October 1888 by the Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company. This cable tram line was electrified in stages by the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board. The section between Domain Interchange (Stop 20) and Commercial Road was electrified on 27 December 1925. The section between Queensberry Street and City Road (near Stop 14) was electrified on the same day. The line between City Road and Domain Interchange was electrified on 24 January 1926. The Prahran & Malvern Tramways Trust constructed the Malvern Road line between St Kilda Road and Gardiner (Stop 50) on 8 April 1915. This line was extended to Camberwell station (Stop 64) on 6 December 1917, and then to Cotham Road on 7 March 1918.

The route was curtailed for 21 months from March 1995 while a bridge was built over the Monash Freeway.^[5] In response to the State Government's Melbourne 2030 planning policy, the Public Transport Users Association lobbied to extend route 72 north to Doncaster Road and Ivanhoe station, and south to Caulfield.^[6]

Melbourne tram route 72 evolution

Dates	Route	Notes
9 December 1934 - 31 October 1970	Riversdale to City (Batman Avenue)
1 November 1970 - 14 April 1991	Camberwell to City (Swanston / Victoria Streets)	via Malvern / Burke Roads
15 April 1991 - 16 January 1996	Camberwell to City (Swanston / Queensberry Streets)	via Malvern / Burke Roads
17 January 1996 - onwards	Camberwell to Melbourne University	via Malvern / Burke Roads

Operation

Route 72 is operated out of Malvern depot with Z and D class trams.^[7][8][9]

Route map

v t e Melbourne Tram Route 72
Melbourne University - Camberwell via City, Malvern & Glen Iris Free tram zone covers stops 8 to 13, fare zone 1 applies from stop 1 to 7, 14 to 70
Suburb Street Stop No. Melbourne University Connections continues as Tram 1 & 6 towards East Coburg & Moreland Carlton Swanston Street 1 Melbourne University 1, 3, 5, 6 16, 64, 67 ; 401, 402 403, 546 3 Lincoln Square 4 Queensberry Street Victoria Street No Service Melbourne CBD Swanston Street 7 RMIT University La Trobe Street Tram 30, City Circle Exhibition Street   Docklands Stadium Melbourne Central station ●●●●●●●●●●●●●● 8 Melbourne Central station 30, City Circle 10 Bourke Street Mall 86, 96; Lonsdale Street buses Bourke Street Tram 86, 96 Melbourne Museum   Southern Cross station Collins Street Tram 11, 12, 48, 109 St Vincent's Plaza   Southern Cross station 11 Collins Street 11, 12, 48, 109 Flinders Street Tram 70, 75, City Circle Russell Street   Docklands Flinders Street station ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● 13 Flinders Street station 70, 75, City Circle Southbank St Kilda Road 14 Arts Precinct 1; 216, 219 220 Southbank Boulevard Tram 1     South Melbourne Beach 17 Grant Street - Police Memorial 19 Shrine of Remembrance Park Street Tram 58     West Coburg Melbourne CBD St Kilda Road 20 Anzac Station 58 Domain Road No Service (Temporary Closure) 21 Bowen Crescent 22 Toorak Road 58 Toorak Road Tram 58 Toorak   23 Arthur Street 24 Leopold Street 25 Commercial Road 3, 5, 6, 16 64, 67 ; 216, 219 220 St Kilda Road Tram 3, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67 St Kilda Junction     Commercial Road 26 Alfred Hospital South Yarra Commercial Road 27 Punt Road 246 28 Braille Library 29 Porter Street Prahran station ● 30 Prahran Market 31 Chapel Street 78 Chapel Street Tram 78 North Richmond   Balaclava   Malvern Road 32 Surrey Road 33 Francis Street 34 Williams Road Toorak Malvern Road 35 Mathoura Road 36 A'Beckett Street 37 Toorak station 220, 605 Toorak station ●●● 38 Clendon Road 39 Irving Road 40 Kooyong Road 41 Albany Road 42 Lauriston Girls' School 43 Glenferrie Road Glenferrie Road Tram 16 Kew   Melbourne University Malvern Malvern Road 44 Plant Street 45 Elizabeth Street 46 Meredith Street Glen Iris Malvern Road 47 Tooranga Road 624 48 Edgar Street 49 Kenilworth Grove 50 Burke Road Gardiner station ●   Burke Road 51 Gardiner station 52 Harris Avenue Camberwell station Burke Road 53 Faircroft Avenue 54 Toorak Road 55 Middle Road 56 Anderson Road 57 Pine Avenue 58 Leura Grove 59 Seymour Grove 61 Riversdale Road 70, 75 Riversdale Road Tram 70, 75 Docklands   Camberwell Junction 62 Camberwell Shopping Centre 63 Prospect Hill Road Camberwell station ●●● 64 Camberwell station 65 Victoria Road Canterbury Burke Road 66 Rathmines Road 67 Camberwell Girls Grammar School Kew Burke Road 68 Mont Albert Road 69 Sackville Street 70 Cotham Road 109, 548 Cotham Road Tram 109 Port Melbourne   Box Hill Suburb Street Stop No. Camberwell Connections

References

1. Melbourne Electric Traction November 1970 page 4
2. The Camberwell Tramway Transit Australia November 1998 pages 243-248
3. City Section Trolley Wire issue 183 August 1979 page 19
4. "Gunzel". www.classicaustraliantv.com. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
5. Route 72 Resumes Full Operation Transit Australia February 1997 page 45
6. The Real Transport Challenges: A Call for a Vision Public Transport Users Association October 2006 page 56
7. Malvern Depot Vicsig
8. Facts & figures Yarra Trams
9. Route 72 Yarra Trams

External links

Media related to Melbourne tram route 72 at Wikimedia Commons