City Circle Tram

Route 35
City Circle
W6 class tram turning from Nicholson Street into Victoria Parade in April 2013
Overview
System	Melbourne tramway network
Operator	Yarra Trams
Depot	Southbank
Vehicle	W class
Began service	29 April 1994
Route
Locale	Melbourne, Australia
Service
Journey time	55 minutes
Operates	Daily
Zone(s)	Free Tram Zone
Timetable	City Circle timetable
Map	City Circle map
Route map ← Route 30 Route 48 →

The City Circle, also referred to as Melbourne tram route 35 is a zero-fare tram running around the Melbourne City Centre in Australia. Aimed mainly at tourists, the route passes many Melbourne attractions while running along the city centre's outermost thoroughfares, as well as the developing Docklands waterfront precinct. It operates in both clockwise and anti-clockwise direction.

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 Docklands.^[6][7] The travel time around the circle before this change was 40 minutes.^[8]

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.^[9]

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'.^[10]

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 Docklands.

Operation

The City Circle route is operated by 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. 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.^[11][12] The City Circle operates at a headway of 12 minutes in both directions, with the service taking approximately 60 minutes to complete a loop.^[12] Ten trams are allocated to the service at any one time (five in each direction). An average of three million passengers uses the service every year, with each tram circling the city 9 times a day, or 12 times when the tram operates to 21:00.^[9]

Route map

City Circle Tram
City Circle via Docklands, La Trobe Street & Flinders Street Free tram zone covers entire route
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 2 King Street William Street Tram 58 West Coburg Toorak Flagstaff station ●●●●●●●●●●●●●● 3 Flagstaff station 58; Flagstaff station 4 Queen Street Elizabeth Street Tram 19, 57, 59 North Melbourne Flinders Street station 5 Melbourne Central station 19, 57, 59 Melbourne Central station ●●●●●●●●●●●●●● Swanston Street Tram 1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, 72 Melbourne University St Kilda Road 6 Melbourne Central station 1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, 72 7 Russell Street 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 CC 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

External links

• Media related to City Circle Tram at Wikimedia Commons
• Route 35 timetable and map