Sporvognstrafikk i Oseania

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I Oseania er sporvognstrafikken berre i drift i Melbourne. Alle andre større byar la ned nettverka sine i løpet av 1900-talet.

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Innhaldsliste 1 Brief historical overview 2 Melbourne tram network 3 Other cities with trams 4 New tram proposals

[endre] Brief historical overview

In the 19th Century numerous horse drawn systems were established, with Adelaide and Brisbane establishing reasonably large systems (for their day) and retaining their horse drawn trams when other systems had adopted steam or cable traction. Victor Harbor and Goolwa in South Australia are examples of small, single line horse drawn systems which survived until the 1950s.

Following a short lived experiment with a privately run horse tram line in Pitt Street in the 1860s, Sydney adopted steam trams, which were operated by the state government. By comparison, Melbourne adopted cable trams, which were operated privately. Melbourne's cable tram network became the largest in the world in the late 19th century, with some cable lines retained until [1940]]. Sydney operated only two cable tram lines (in North Sydney and along South Head Road) and eschewed the high capital outlay required for cable traction, preferring instead to retain their steam trams, until most of the system was converted to electic operation between 1898 and 1910.

Smaller provincial towns in New South Wales, such as Maitland, Broken Hill and Newcastle had steam tram systems operated by the New South Wales Government. A steam tram system also operated in Rockhampton, Queensland, operated by the Rockhampton City Council. With the exception of Newcastle, these systems had closed by the 1930s.

Gold mining towns, with their rapid growth and wealth soon adopted trams, with Bendigo and Ballarat in Victoria and Kalgoorlie and Leonora in Western Australia all adopting electric tram systems. Ballarat had trialled a battery operated tram, but this was unsucessful. The Victorian systems survived until 1972 following their takeover by the state government, whereas the West Australian examples ceased operations in the 1930s as a result of the economic decline of those towns at the time.

Electrification was quickly adopted in Australian systems, with Hobart and Brisbane the first systems to be electrified in 1893 and 1897 respectively. Hobart thus was the first city in the Southern Hemisphere to operate a successful electric tramway system. It was also the only Australian city to use the European-style 'bow collector', instead of Frank Sprague's trolley pole system. Another first for Hobart was its use of electric double-decker trams, the first city outside Europe to do so. The Hobart system retained a distinctly "English" appearance throughout its existence.

Adelaide was the last major city to convert its trams to electric operation, in 1908.

[endre] Melbourne tram network

Main article: Trams in Melbourne

Melbourne has one of the world's most extensive tram systems, which have become part of the city's culture and identity due to their long history.

In Melbourne, in addition to newer types of trams in use such as the Citadis and the Combino and the middle-aged A, B and Z class trams, older W-class trams remain in service and are a popular tourist attraction. W-class trams are used exclusively on the free City Circle tram route, and also in use on some regular routes. A total of 53 W-class trams remain in regular service, with the oldest in service tram dating from 1939.

[endre] Other cities with trams

Amongst other Australian cities, the once-extensive Sydney tram system closed in the 1950s but Sydney has since opened a new light rail line. Adelaide also closed its urban tram network, but has retained an express tram line linking the city centre with the seaside suburb of Glenelg. In 2005 there are plans to extend the line into North Adelaide and the main railway station.

The smaller cities of Bendigo and Ballarat, both in Victoria, have retained small parts of their tramway operations. These have become major tourist attractions. The horse tram at Victor Harbor in South Australia has been re-opened as a tourist attraction. Christchurch in New Zealand has recently constructed a new city-centre heritage line, using historic cars.

Tram museums operate in many cities, such as the Brisbane Tramway Museum and the Sydney Tramway Museum.

[endre] New tram proposals

Perth and Brisbane both have proposals to implement light rails systems in their respective CBDs. In Brisbane's case, several proposals have been made and each has been knocked back, but with the recent introduction of integrated ticketing under the TransLink scheme and expansive Queensland Government transport infrastructure plans, the most recent proposal may go ahead. Calls also are in place for the Gold Coast, just south of Brisbane, to solve their major traffic problems. Proposals also exist to extend the Sydney and Adelaide systems beyond one line each.