The earliest trams in Australia operated in the latter decades of the 19th century, hauled by horses or "steam tram motors" (also known as "steam dummies"). At the turn of the 20th century, propulsion almost universally turned to electrification, although cable trams (established in 1885) lingered in Melbourne. In cities and towns that had trams, they were a major part of public transport assets.
In the middle of the 20th century trams fell out of favour, in part because of deferred maintenance during World War II and declining patronage resulting from increased private car ownership. Lines were closed or severely cut back except in Melbourne: its network of 24 routes covering 250 km (155 mi) is now the largest in the world.
Since the turn of the 21st century tramway networks have been reconstructed in Sydney and in Newcastle, extended in Adelaide and brand new systems have been built on the Gold Coast and in Canberra (marking the first time these two cities have had trams).
Restored vintage trams are very popular in their various forms. Most operate on sections of former operational lines such as at Bendigo and at Ballarat in Victoria or on purpose-built tracks in association with museums such as at St Kilda, at Whiteman Park, and at Launceston. Less authentic but invariably popular are replica trams that offer tourist experiences such as in Victor Harbor and in Portland.
History 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 Gawler in South Australia are examples of small, single-line horse-drawn systems which survived until 1955 and 1931 respectively; the Victor Harbor tramway reopened in 1986.
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, the infrastructure (tracks and winding-houses) was owned collectively by the local municipal councils, but operated initially by a private company. The Melbourne cable tramway system became arguably 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 New 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 electric 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. Rockhampton, Queensland, also had a steam tram system, which was operated by the City of Rockhampton. 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. Bendigo initially opened a battery-operated tramline to Eaglehawk, but as this proved unsuccessful it was replaced by steam-trams; these were electrified and expanded circa 1902. Ballarat electrified their horse tram network shortly after. These two Victorian systems survived until 1972 and 1971 respectively, following their takeover by the state government through the State Electricity Commission, whereas the West Australian examples ceased operations in the 1950s as a result of the economic decline of those towns at the time.
Electrification of Australian tram systems was adopted early, with Hobart and Brisbane becoming the first cities to electrify their networks in 1893 and 1897, respectively. Hobart was thus 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. Hobart was also the first city outside Europe to employ electric double-decker trams. The Hobart system retained a distinctly "English" appearance throughout its existence.
Perth had an electric tram system in operation between 1898 and 1958. Adelaide was the last major city to convert its trams to electric operation, in 1908, with the system closing (except for the Glenelg tram line) in 1958. However, Melbourne did not complete its cable tram electrification program until 1956 when today's route 96 opened, having been converted from a diesel bus which had replaced the cable tram.
A distinctive feature of many Australasian trams was the drop-centre, a lowered central section between bogies (wheel-sets), to make passenger access easier by reducing the number of steps required to get inside of the vehicle. One school of thought proposes that these were derived from Hedley-Doyle stepless car, (named after two employees of the New York Railways Company), two of which came to Australia: the "Big Lizzie" of Brisbane supplied by JG Brill Company in 1913, and the "New York" car (I class number 63) of the Perth tramways in 1914. A more plausible genesis is that the design evolved locally, as evidenced by a number of drop-centre trams appearing prior to the 1912 New York design.
Patronage The following table lists tram patronage figures (in millions of journeys) during the 2017–18 and 2018–19 financial years (1 July to 30 June). City Patronage (millions) 2017–18 RefPatronage (millions) 2018–19Ref Melbourne 206.3 205.4 Sydney 10.26 11.12 Gold Coast 9.49 10.74 Adelaide 9.48 9.45
Networks
Timeline – all tramways
Legend Yellow = historical passenger network Green = existing continuously operated tram network (more than one line) Blue = reduced size single line or tourist railway Red = replica tourist tram only Orange = contemporary tram or light rail public transit network Grey = proposed
Australian Capital Territory
A light rail system serving Australia's national capital, Canberra, opened in April 2019. The initial line links the northern suburb of Gungahlin to the city centre (Civic). An extension to the southern suburb of Woden has been announced.
New South Wales Broken Hill A steam tramway service operated in Broken Hill from 1902 until its closure in December 1926.
Maitland
A steam tram line connected East and West Maitland between 1909 and 1926. The line ran from Victoria Street station in East Maitland along High Street, West Maitland crossing the 'Long Bridge' and terminated in the suburb of Campbells Hill. There was single track branch from High Street, West Maitland running along Church Street to West Maitland station. This branch line closed in 1915.
There were proposals to extend the line westwards from Campbells Hill to Rutherford but these never eventuated. There were proposals to electrify the service in 1921 but instead it was decided to withdraw the service. The tramway closed on 31 December 1926.
Newcastle
A steam tram system operated in Newcastle, New South Wales from 1887, with a branch to West Wallsend. It was electrified in 1923–26. The last line closed in 1950.
The construction of the a modern system was announced in 2014. The Newcastle Light Rail opened in February 2019.Light rail in Newcastle opening from Monday 18 February Transport for NSW 3 February 2019
Sydney
Sydney once had an extensive tram system, having been in place since 1879, with a short-lived earlier line opened between 1861 and 1866. The system was hugely popular by the 20th century, with an average of more than one tram journey per day made by every man and woman and child in the city. Patronage peaked at over 400 million people per annum in 1945. The use of trams in Sydney declined in the 1950s and the system was closed entirely in 1961, replaced by buses. It had a maximum street mileage of in 1923 making it the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and second largest in the British Empire after London.
In 1997, more than 30 years after trams disappeared from Sydney streets, they were reintroduced in the form of a small light rail system. A single line was opened between Central station and Pyrmont, mostly utilising a former goods railway, which was extended along the remaining section of disused railway to Lilyfield in the Inner West in 2000. Following a further cut back to the city's freight rail network, a south-western extension to Dulwich Hill opened in 2014. A second line from the CBD and to Randwick opened in December 2019, with an additional branch to Kingsford having opened in March 2020.
A fourth line through Parramatta opened in 2024 between Westmead and Carlingford. A fifth line between the existing Parramatta line and Sydney Olympic Park is currently under construction.
Queensland
Brisbane
The Brisbane Tram System was operational from 1885 to 1969.
Brisbane's tram system ran on standard gauge track. The electric system was originally energised to 500 volts, this was subsequently increased to 600 volts.
Most trams operated with a two-person crew – a driver (or motorman) and a conductor, who moved about the tram collecting fares and issuing tickets. The exceptions to this arrangement were on the Gardens line (Lower Edward Street) where the short duration of the trip meant it was more effective for passengers to simply drop their fare into a fare box as they entered the tram; and the "one man cars" which operated in the early 1930s (see below).
The network reached its maximum extent of 109 kilometres in 1952. The total track length was 199 kilometres, owing to many routes ending in single, rather than double, track. Single track segments of the track were protected by signalling which operated off the trolley wire. By 1959, more than 140 kilometres of track were laid in concrete, a method of track construction pioneered in Brisbane.
The last track opened was in O'Keefe Street Woolloongabba, in May 1961. However, this track was not used in normal passenger service and was merely used to reduce dead running from Logan Road back to Ipswich Road Depot.
The peak year for patronage was 1944–45, with almost 160 million passenger journeys recorded.
Gold Coast
The first modern light rail system in Queensland opened on the Gold Coast in 2014. Called G:link, it runs on a single 20-kilometre line between Helensvale railway station and Broadbeach via Gold Coast University Hospital, Southport and Surfers Paradise. The route forms a public transport spine on the Coast and connects with bus services along the route. A northern extension, from the original terminus at Gold Coast University Hospital to Helensvale railway station, was completed in 2018 before the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Rockhampton
Rockhampton operated steam trams from 1909 to 1939. There is a Steam Tram Museum at Archer Park Station, with a toastrack style French Purrey steam tram operating for several hours each Sunday.
Nambour
Nambour re-introduced a tourist tramway in 2021. The tramway is part of the Nambour to Coolum Tramline which was used between the 1910s to 2001. The tourist service includes a diesel locomotive called Petrie donated by Bundaberg Sugar and operates as a passenger service for tourists from the old sugar mill site to Quota Park running 800 metres through the Nambour CBD.
South Australia
Adelaide