Melbourne tram route 109

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Route 109
Overview
SystemMelbourne
OperatorYarra Trams
DepotKew
VehicleA class
C class
Began service19 December 1993
PredecessorsRoute 42, 111
Night-timeFriday & Saturday
Route
StartBox Hill
ViaWhitehorse Road
Victoria Street
Collins Street
EndPort Melbourne
Length19.3 kilometres
TimetableRoute 109 timetable
MapRoute 109 map
← Route 96  {{{system_nav}}}  {{{next_line}}} →

Melbourne tram route 109 is operated by Yarra Trams on the Melbourne tram network from Box Hill to Port Melbourne. The 19.3 kilometre route is operated out of Kew depot with A and C class trams.

History[edit]

The origins of route 109 lie in separate tram lines, a cable tram from Spencer Street to the Yarra River, a horse tram from the Yarra River to Kew Cemetery, an electric line from Kew Junction to Box Hill (extended over the years), as well as the Port Melbourne railway line.

A cable line was opened by the Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company from Spencer Street to Brunswick Street along Collins Street, MacArthur Street, Gisborne Street and Victoria Parade on 2 October 1886, and extended to the west side of the Yarra River along Victoria Parade and Victoria Street on 22 November 1886.[1] A connecting horse tram was built from the east side of the Yarra River to Kew Cemetery, along Barkers Road, High Street South and High Street, opening on 28 December 1887.

The Prahran & Malvern Tramways Trust (PMTT) opened a line from High Street to Burke Road along Cotham Road on 30 May 1913. On 1 November 1914 the PMTT received permission to convert the horse tram line to electric traction, and the new electric line was opened on 24 February 1915. The PMTT extended the Cotham Road line to Union Road, Mont Albert along Whitehorse Road, on 30 September 1916.[2][3]

In 1929 the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) started converting the Collins Street cable lines to electric traction, with the last cable tram running down Collins Street on 14 September 1929, and the first electric tram on 8 December 1929. At the same time the MMTB built a new electric line down the centre of Victoria Parade to replace the cable line, which opened on 15 September 1929.[4] For the next six decades the Melbourne to Mont Albert tram was numbered 42, celebrated by a 1982 theatrical production, Storming Mont Albert by Tram, which was performed on a specially-chartered Route 42 tram from the Mont Albert terminus to the city and return.[5]

On 21 December 1987, route 111 commenced running from Exhibition (Carlton Gardens) at Nicholson Street to Port Melbourne along Bourke Street, Spencer Street and the former Port Melbourne railway line, following the conversion of the railway (along with the St Kilda line) to light rail.[6][7][8] The broad gauge 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) track was re-gauged to standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) and the overhead voltage was reduced from 1500 V DC to 600 V DC with light rail platforms built adjacent to or near the former stations platforms.

On 19 December 1993, routes 42 and 111 were combined as route 109.[9][10][11] Route 42 continued to run as a peak-hour variant of route 109, and from 18 November 2002, the route deviated from route 109 and ran between Box Hill and the Collins Street West extension in Docklands.[12] From 28 June 2004 until 21 November 2005, the route was truncated back to Spencer Street while Spencer Street station (now Southern Cross station) was redeveloped.[13] It was extended further along the Collins Street extension to Victoria Harbour (Merchant Street) on 21 September 2009.[14][6] At this point, the route ran one morning trip and three afternoon trips from Box Hill to Victoria Harbour and then back to Box Hill.[15] Route 42 was last listed as an official route in late 2010 / early 2011 before it gradually disappeared without an official announcement.[16]

When Station Pier was refurbished in 1999, tram tracks were laid to allow for route 109 to be extended onto the pier, but have never been connected.[17]

The line was extended from its original terminus at Mont Albert to Box Hill along Whitehorse Road for 2.2 kilometres on 2 May 2003.[18][19][20] In January 2016, route 109 began operating through the night on Fridays and Saturdays as part of the Night Network.[21]

Route[edit]

The Port Melbourne terminus, with the Port Melbourne railway station building in the foreground

Route 109 runs from Box Hill, travelling west on Whitehorse Road through the suburbs of Mont Albert, Surrey Hills, Balwyn and Deepdene. Entering Kew at Burke Road, Whitehorse Road becomes Cotham Road. It continues west, through Kew Junction and then south west along High Street, High Street South and turns west into Barkers Road.

It crosses the Yarra River into Victoria Street, Richmond and continues west, at Hoddle Street Victoria Street becomes Victoria Parade, it passes through St Vincent's Plaza, passing St Vincent's Hospital, the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital and turns south onto Gisborne Street, continues south west along MacArthur Street and turns west into Collins Street, entering the CBD, passing Melbourne Town Hall and City Square.

It turns south into Spencer Street, passing Southern Cross station, then crosses the Yarra River and enters Southbank on Clarendon Street before traversing the suburbs of South Melbourne and Port Melbourne on a right-of-way using the former Port Melbourne railway line and terminates at Port Melbourne railway station near Station Pier.

Operation[edit]

Route 109 is operated out of Kew depot with A and C1 class trams.[22] For a period from 2002, some services were also operated by Southbank depot.[23][24]

Route map[edit]

Route 109
Box Hill - Port Melbourne
via Mont Albert, City & Southbank
Free tram zone covers stops 124 to 8, fare zone 1 from
stop 57 to 10, 124A to 129, fare zone 2 from stop 57 to 47
Suburb
Street
Stop
No.
Box Hill
Connections
58
Box Hill Central
Mainline rail interchange Box Hill station
57
Nelson Road
56
Elgar Road
55
Hood Street
54
Inglisby Road
53
Union Road
Bus interchange 284, 612
51
Narrak Road
50
Wharton Street
49
Northcote Avenue
48
Balwyn Shopping Centre
47
Balwyn Road
Bus interchange 285
Zone 1+2
Zone 1
46
Balwyn Cinema
45
Hardwicke Street
44
Deepdene Park
43
Deepdene Shopping Centre
42
Burke Road
Tram interchange 72;Bus interchange 548
Burke Road
Tram 72
Kew
Cotham Road
41
Kew Traffic School
40
St George's Hospital
Bus interchange 548
39
Thomas Street
38
Marshall Avenue
37
Belmont Avenue
36
Glenferrie Road
Glenferrie Road
Tram 16
35
Charles Street
Bus interchange 609
34
High Street
High Street
Tram 48
Kew
High Street
33
Cotham Road
32
Kew Junction
Bus interchange 200, 207, 609
31
Stevenson Street
Church Street
Tram 48
Hawthorn
Barkers Road
29
High Street
Kew tram depot
27
Findon Crescent
25
River Boulevard
Victoria Gardens Siding
24
Victoria Gardens
23
Leslie Street
22
McKay Street
21
Church Street
Church Street
Tram 78
 
 Balaclava Right arrow
20
Lennox Street
19
North Richmond station
Mainline rail interchange North Richmond station
18
Hoddle Street
16
Wellington Street
15
Smith Street
13
Lansdowne Street
St Vincent's Plaza Siding
Brunswick Street
Tram 11
12
St Vincent's Plaza
Victoria Parade
Tram 30
 
Gisborne Street
11
Albert Street
 
Macarthur Street
10
Parliament station
Mainline rail interchange Parliament Station
Spring Street
Tram 48, City Circle
Wellington Parade Right arrow
 Left arrow Nicholson Street
8
Spring Street
7
101 Collins Street
Bus interchange 605
Swanston Street
Tram 1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, 72
6
Town Hall
Tram interchange 1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, 72
Elizabeth Street
Tram 19, 57, 59
5
Elizabeth Street
Tram interchange 19, 57, 59
3
William Street
William Street
Tram 58
1
Southern Cross station
Tram interchange 11, 48, 96
Mainline rail interchange Southern Cross station
Spencer Street
Tram 96
Collins Street
Tram 11, 48
 
 Left arrow Docklands
Flinders Street
Tram 70, 75, City Circle
Flinders Street Viaduct
 
Spencer Street
124
Batman Park
Southbank
Clarendon Street
124A
Casino/MCEC
Clarendon Street
Tram 12
 
Normanby Road
125
Clarendon Street Junction
St Kilda Light Rail
Tram 96
South Melbourne
Normanby Road
125A
Southbank tram depot
Southbank tram depot
126
Montague Street
Port Melbourne
Station Street
127
North Port
128
Graham Street
129
Beacon Cove
Bus interchange 236, PPC
Suburb
No.
Stop Name (Road Name)
Connections
Note: Green denotes free tram zone

Bus route[edit]

When cruise ships are berthed at Station Pier, Transit Systems Victoria operate a parallel bus service as route 109 between Station Pier and the Arts Centre.[25]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company Limited Running Journal volume 9 no 3 page 16
  2. ^ Milestones, 1911 - 1920 Yarra Trams
  3. ^ History of the Mont Albert Tramway Transit Australia June 2003 pages 154-159
  4. ^ Milestones, 1921 - 1930 Yarra Trams
  5. ^ Storming Mont Albert by Tram - Melbourne Moomba Festival Theatre Works: St Kilda
  6. ^ a b "History of Melbourne Tram Routes from 1950 to 2009" (PDF). Yarra Trams. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2012.
  7. ^ Jones, Colin (1993). Watch for Trams. Kenthurst: Kangaroo Press. p. 118. ISBN 0-86417-544-2.
  8. ^ Milestones, 1981 - 1990 Yarra Trams
  9. ^ The Met Fleetline issue 221 December 1993 page 264
  10. ^ National Bus Company Australian Bus Panorama issue 9/5 January 1994 page 31
  11. ^ Melbourne News Trolley Wire issue 256 February 1994 page 23
  12. ^ "Timetable Changes to Collins Street Services". Yarra Trams. 29 November 2002. Archived from the original on 6 December 2002.
  13. ^ Temporary Closure of Collins Street Extension Yarra Trams
  14. ^ Changes to Routes 48 & 70 from Sunday 20 September 2009 Yarra Trams
  15. ^ "Route 42 timetable" (PDF). Metlink. 20 September 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2009.
  16. ^ "42 - Box Hill - Victoria Harbour Docklands". Metlink. Archived from the original on 26 February 2011.
  17. ^ Station Pier Tramway Extension Transit Australia February 2002 pages 54/55
  18. ^ Box Hill Extension Opening Yarra Trams 2 May 2003
  19. ^ Mont Albert - Box Hill Tramway Extension Opens Transit Australia July 2003 pages 179-186
  20. ^ Mont Albert - Box Hill tram extension opened Railway Digest June 2003 page 11
  21. ^ Night Tram Public Transport Victoria
  22. ^ Kew Depot Vicsig
  23. ^ Kew Depot Transit Australia October 2002 page 274
  24. ^ Melbourne's longest routes The Bellcord issue 52 December 2021 page 4
  25. ^ 109 Express Port Melbourne to Arts Centre Public Transport Victoria

External links[edit]