My video on the St Kilda area tram lines: ua-cam.com/video/aNF9TLtwsPA/v-deo.htmlsi=FyRef0FBbJ_UAuih Philip's video on the post-Metro Tunnel tram changes: ua-cam.com/video/GJyVAPNV5fY/v-deo.htmlsi=K5XKlwvDqv6RIoPa The music at the end of this video was created by my brother Cian, check out his stuff here: hyperfollow.com/cianbennetmusic Enjoying the channel? For the cost of one coffee a month, you can get early access, behind the scenes videos and your name in the credits via my Patreon: www.patreon.com/Taitset ~This service will be a low-floor tram!~
I was seeing Wicked last week and someone did a u-turn over the tram tracks. Predictably he blocked a tram which belled him good and proper. But the traffic wasn’t moving on the incoming side and he was blocking the entire tram line. Also predictably he blocked a second tram coming the other way. Then it became musical belling. It kept us theatre-goers in rapt attention for a while.
These videos are so amazing. As a Sydney sider I remember using a tram for the first time and I assumed the Myki reader was on the platform. Turns out I was trying to touch on at an info button 🤦🏼♂️.
Which method of tapping on works better, in your opinion? Touching on on the platform seems like a more straightforward way to do it, but does it create long queues and crowding problems at the stop? (I'm a Melbournian and haven't used Sydney's system in 20 years, so I have no idea how your ticketing system works these days...)
@@Taitseti got fined because of it I didn’t know that you had to tap on the platform. I just walked on and later found out about the readers on the platform😂
"you have to walk (but in czech)" - I found this so funny. I love that Melbourne is replacing the A, B and Z's with low-floor trams. But there are few trams that look as good as the A, B and Zs so it will be sad once they leave the network.
I don't think the B's will be replaced, they ordered 100 G-Class trams but there are 130 B2-Classes, and combined there are 170 Z3 and A-Classes. it's possible that the order could be increased to 230 with the addition of a longer 5-section "G2" but that still wouldn't cover the B2's. I suspect they'll be in service for another decade or so
The Arts Centre shunting loop is one of my biggest peeves on the network. I feel that if the subsequent Arts Centre stop was an island instead, the trams wouldn't have to slow down unnecessarily a second time before accelerating again to pull into or out of the stop.. the car alignment is perfectly straight to allow for the width of the tram infrastructure, meanwhile the trams are forced to zigzag along some steep curves... They're not exactly known for their slalom abilities
I was literally riding down this corridor this morning and thought... "What if Taitset made a video about this tram corridor." And what do you know around 10 hours later we got it.
what a great video. That ending timelapse was a beautiful touch. In our fast paced tik-tok world, it is a sweet relief to slow yourself down and just watch some trams with some calming music.
I was down that road at night last year waiting for John Cleese to perform at Hamer Hall and it was lovely sitting by the arts centre fountains under lit beneath the water with those animated bird signs on the grass and real ducks floating on the water while the occasional tram streamed by and parkland on the other side. Melbourne often gets ignored for Sydney cos of the harbour but it still has its pretty points. The ding of a Melbourne tram at night can be comforting. It's not too loud like a train horn.
The biggest complaint I have about our tram network is that it has seen very few routes extended in the last 30 years. The outer suburbs would be quite suitable for trams as many roads have enough space to make the tram fairway, so I don't think the journey times to the CBD would be as long as most people expect, especially when this is compared to the time it takes to catch a bus to the train station, then a train to the CBD.
@@qjtvaddict Potentially tram to the train station. Or perhaps just tram to the city if we had more fairway zones in the inner and middle ring suburbs so the tip length from the outer suburbs to the CBD via tram wasn't unreasonable. There are lots of ways it could be done. My point is just that we aren't doing any of them. We continue to rely on buses to the train station which often have very indirect routes and as a result spend the vast majority of the day with less than 5 passengers on the bus at any one time. Then we wonder why there is so much traffic everywhere, when it is obvious that it is because public transport in outer suburbs is just too bad for anyone to use if they have another option, unless they are one of the lucky few within walking distance to a train station.
Yeah I wish they had extended it to outer suburbs. Even though it is annoying to drive when their is cars parked on left inner road lane and then you are blocked on outer road lane shared with Trams and you generally can't "undertake" and then when you try and shift lanes in peak hour the car in front has stopped unexpectedly to allow a Tram to disembark passengers do you drive into back of said car...😢
@@centurion8446 I agree that is annoying. I personally think the vast majority of those areas should be no standing 24/7 and then they could try to accommodate more cars in the side streets (i.e. making streets one way/cutting back nature strips so angled parking can be installed etc.)
I just visited Melbourne in order to get a US visa, I went from commercial road station on st kilda rd to Swanson street so I could do a bit of shopping, I was there at peak, so it was very very full. I am from brisbane so tram rides were very exciting for me, and I know the brisbane trains from the back of my hand, considering I have passed almost every station in queensland
You and Philip always produce high quality and interesting videos. I always look forward to your next releases. I appreciate the positive picture that you paint of our great city. I reckon you two should get together some time, would love to see what a joint effort could produce 😉
As a Coburg resident I’d love to see another route or two terminate beyond the Uni as the two routes servicing Coburg are overcrowded through Carlton North. There is a disused siding at Brunswick Road which could be used.
4:50 - Yeah, I think the only use case where people would take the new train line between the north and south ends of the CBD is if your journey start and end are literally at or beyond the opposite ends of the CBD, AND you can tell there's a train coming soon but not immediately so you can get down to the platforms, AND it won't add an extraneous myki fare to your journeys that day, AND you're aware enough of how the fare system works to recognise it will cost you the same even with the free tram zone. That still captures a lot of traffic in my opinion, especially regular commuter traffic. But if any of those conditions aren't met a traveller is likely to preference the Swanston street trams over the metro tunnel, and this will include most spontaneous trips and casual travellers I reckon.
9:57 Not that many North American systems. Toronto is the only one staying unidirectional. Philadelphia uses unidirectional trolleys on the subway-surface lines and a bidirectional version of them on the suburban trolleys. However it appears for both their next order will be bidirectional only. In Boston, the green line uses bidirectional vehicles, while the Ashmont line uses unidirectional streetcars, but with doors on both sides. All the rest of the older transit systems that lived (Pittsburgh, Newark, Cleveland, San Francisco Muni Metro, New Orleans, Mexico City) use bidirectional vehicles exclusively, as well as the modern streetcar and light rail systems. Some heritage streetcar systems though use unidirectional (San Francisco muni streetcar and cable car, El Paso, Kenosha)
Great video! It’s awesome to see this network, the largest and busiest network in the Southern Hemisphere living up to having the busiest corridor in the world! Your brother’s music in the end should be on Spotify! I’m sure plenty of Melbournians and transit nuts would enjoy it 😁 (Couldn’t find any Easter eggs in this one, or my eyes were lazy to find them!)
8:23 While domain rd does have tracks and power lines, there are no tram stops on that section, and the tracks terminate at the Park Rd/Toorak Rd intersection. Perhaps in future they might install a junction that allows domain rd to connect with toorak rd, and then tram services on route 58 can run either via Domain Rd or St Kilda Rd, which is a bit similar to how route 3 can run either on St Kilda Rd or Fitzroy Street
I always wondered why the random curve near Victoria St. Didn't realise most of the shunting trains stopped there up until the 90s. I'm at Melbourne Uni a lot and spent a lot of time on the St Kilda Road trams. Will be a bit sad to see some of the routes disappear, but hopefully the Metro Tunnel means it will be possible.
Another great video Martin. I've been using this route for decades but never paid much attention to all the little modifications made over the years to increase capacity and reduce delays. Unfortunately, despite all the places where trams can park, turn around, and get out of each other's way, the control centre still regularly turns around trams before they reach their final destination. This is annoying when it happens once during your journey, infuriating when it happens twice. Hopefully once the tunnel opens this might happen less often. Sad also to see that Domain junction got renamed to Anzac station, despite the public vote resulting in a roughly 10-1 preference in favour of Domain.
same. as a young kid who grew up during the connex era, i nicknamed the EDI comeng's "angry trains" because their design and livery made me think of an angry face for some reason
@@lukegeorge5717 oh yes, I used to nickname the Nexas trains the angry trains and the xtrapolis as the happy trains. I thought I was the only one in the world who would do something like that haha
Thank you for this excellent insight. As a Melbourne native I don’t usually get trams as often as I should but you have given me a new perspective on this mode of transport! Bravo!
Can you make a video on historic stations like Flinders street and Williamstown station? Love these videos, a shame the current metro is so unorganised sometimes…
As someone who lives along this corridor where the number 6 splits off towards High St I feel very spoiled when I see a CBD-bound tram approaching the station - instead of chasing the tram to get on (knowing that they come so frequently) I watch the train leave and take a slow stroll and by the time I reach the boarding area at the tram stop a second tram will have just arrived
Sorry for being so late the party, I saw the 30 minute and "now premiering" announcements on my train ride home, but didn't want to disturb the transit quiet, great vid as always!
I was a regular customer on route 5/64 and 67 in the latter part of the 80's. Just last year I found myself on no. 5 tram from Orrong road and into Swanson street and back. I am often guilty of saying nothing gets better in this world, and certainly not in Melbourne! But I was pleasantly surprised by my experience, that day. Both trips took a little under half an hour, which I'm certain is a lot faster than it used to be (any comments?), the tram was far quieter, heated and generally felt more spacious. The inner suburbs of Melbourne are certainly spoiled by the tram network. Our forefathers got that right and it's something that our more recent mobs of incompetent clowns haven't managed to destroy. Good to see.
The extent to which I use the trams myself are just to skirt around the city faster. Any "main" transport always involves trains, so I never really researched much into how the trams actually route themselves. I think that it's beautifully designed in that you don't *need* to have this sort of in-depth understanding of the networks in order to still use them, but it can be useful to have in those brief disruptions. Great video.
Your video reminded me of when I worked in StKilda road back in the 1980s. I caught the route 67 from Glen Huntley. Young people nowadays don’t have the problem of many strikes especially the trains. When there were train strikes it was impossible to catch a 67 tram out from StKilda road they went past completely packed. Had to catch the tram into the city and out again! Worst days were when the trains and trams were on strike!
Great video Sir! I just got back from a week in Melbourne, and always love riding the trams there. Such a great city and so easy to get around. The "B"s" are my favourite and got to ride a few of them on the 58. Look forward to getting back there soon. Cheers Gregg.
it's insane how many trams operate on swanston street, going from melb central to the university of melbourne i rarely have to wait more then 30 seconds for a tram!
Really good video, thanks Martin. You've brought me up to date with the corridor, so much has changed since I was a regular passenger and the B2s were new!
Great video :) in my home city we had a tram corridor with about 45 trams/hour per direction off-peak (so every 80 s) and some more during peak, but it has since been replaced by a tram tunnel (with reduced capacity due to signalling). Interesting to see how Melbourne manages this busy corridor!
I used to live just down from this corridor on st Kilda Rd while attending Melbourne Uni so I could take a lot of different tram routes but not all of them and it took me so long to memorise which ones wouldn't turn off st Kilda Rd before my stop 😂. If you've already tapped on to come into the city then you can probably take the city loop while still on your 2hr pass so that's one less barrier to using the city loop but I do notice people do tend to lean towards taking the trams in the city anyway. I'll often switch to the city loop during peak because they're often way less crowded. E.g. trying to get to marvel stadium via tram from melb central can be really hard when something is on but the trains are usually pretty chill.
Ah the uni melb walk of frustration to work when Yarra Trams terminates a tram one stop early from uni melb and you have to walk the last part. At least 3 times a week. Do not miss that.
Oy, I remember when the flinders street stop went all the way to the light and we had a southbound stop outside st Paul's, never like being caught at the lights in either direction
Great Video Martin. This makes me want to visit Australia and see this corridor for myself. If I could get past the long flight from the US! The Timelapse at the end was great.
Huh, I always thought Melbourne tram runs on meter gauge. What a surprise. I knew the city of Freiburg got some of Melbournes trams when Siemens had to deal with the Cobino disaster. Freiburg got some Melbourne trams while the Freiburg units were refurbished (They had problems with the welds holding the carriages together) I always assumed that was because Melbourne trams were similar. But they must have changed the bogies too to make that work.
@@Taitset the story back then was that Freiburg got replacement sets from trams originally destined to Melbourne. Siemens was in all sorts of trouble, it could mean that Melbourne just had to wait a bit longer. Perhaps they were redesignated to Freiburg early in the production process. I actually don't know. That was 2005, I can't find anything on the net again. It was in the local news back then. My naive conclusion back then was that they had the same gauge because of that. But that's obviously wrong.
Interesting point. But it doesn't have the length of the Melbourne stretch. However, Zurich's tram routes have a complexity that leaves Melbourne's bigger network in second place.
It's not so much an illusion, as an exaggeration. Those bumps are certainly there, but only noticable with the compressed perspective. On 100% perfect track (which we don't have anywhere in Victoria), it would look dead level.
Ohhhh. That explains why there was hardly any inspectors on the 19. That's, technically, Melbourne Uni, but it's not. 😅 Also explains what that lil building is next to the rock climbing place! I've gotta go ride some trams soon, I think. I don't think I've been to the new Domain Interchange (it'll always be called that in my book!), nor the St Kilda terminus thingy.
I wonder what will happen with the junction and the tracks at Toorak Road when Route 58 is returned to Domain Road. I didn't even know that was happening anyway. I guess people will have to walk a bit to change from St Kilda Road trams to Route 58 when construction is complete, but as they say, only time will tell.
hi taitset! quick suggestion, u should add the line colours to the outline around the thumbnails for the line explainers, for example the Hurstbridge line explainers outline would have the red of the Clifton Hill group.
Basel's Tram Network might actually have busier sections. Though i guess it depends how you define "corridor", in Basel's case trams switch on and off the busy parts all over the place and the "corridor" is significantly shorter over all. In the busiest sections there are 6 lines running every 7,5 Minutes on the same tracks off-peak (every 75s), increasing to 7 lines every 7,5 Minutes at peak time (every 64.3 s) The constant jumble of routes does mean it's lacking a cool switchback section like at Melbourne University though.
Where the rail line aligns with a tram route, I think it would be good to include train travel in the fare free zone, as an incentive to use the train instead. You'd still tap on and off but there'd be no charge.
I always wanted to know how exactly the two tracks could possibly cope with so many trams. Although I guess they can be a lot closer together than trains.
Very cool - thanks for sharing your knowledge! Out of interest, how do you isolate the individual tram routes in the tram network map featured in the video? 🤔
Glad you enjoyed it! I do the maps in photoshop, first I make a greyscale layer so all the colour vanishes, then from the original layer I select each route and make it a new layer over the top of they grey one - that way I end up with a .psd file where I can turn all the routes on and off, then save them as separate .jpgs for use in the video.
The 67 tram stops directly in front of the entrance to the new Glen Huntly station. I don't know if this counts as a platform-to-platform transfer but when you step off a city-bound tram it's about five metres to the myki readers in the station which is pretty bloody close! I've been wondering whether there are any tram stops closer to station entrances anywhere else on the network but you said there aren't any?
That does come pretty close, as does Flinders Street station to the Fed Square tram stop, and Southern Cross country platforms to the stop on Spencer Street. I'd argue they're all a bit different though, in that they still involve technically leaving the station area, and all those examples (except for one direction at Glen Huntly) involve crossing a road lane too. Anzac will not involve crossing any road lanes (or rail/tram lines for that matter), and the entrance to the station will be 'on' the tram platform. Obviously 'platform to platform' could be interpreted in different ways of course. :)
Also works well the other way. Off the train and onto the depot/city/university bound tram with out stepping on the road. There is even a panel now showing how long until the next tram.
@@Kevin-go2dw I'd like to know why that screen doesn't show departures for the other direction. I have to cross the road and walk up the platform to see whether I should wait for a tram or just walk home
at Balaclava station there's platforms on either side of the tram stop outside which take up the width of a car lane, but the station itself is elevated and you need to walk up a ramp or stairs to get to the myki readers. if Balaclava station was in a trench I imagine it'd be very similar to the new Glen Huntly station. the interchange at Balaclava station is still very seamless though, it's just a bit of a long walk from the myki readers compared to some other stations there is also a citybound tram stop directly outside the Elsternwick station entrance (and I mean directly outside, like you walk out the door and you're basically at the tram stop), but no platform
Great to see another video of yours of the trams, some thing to point out is how you said Elgin St, I’ve always said it with a soft g, like a j sound, is that the correct way or is the way you said it correct. Anyways, Amazing video!! (And I haven’t even finished it yet haha)
Hey Martin, Where did you find conformation about 58 shifting back to its old route? I emailed all the departments ages ago (before Phillip!) and flicked through the business case but nothing has given me a solid answer, its all been speculation. To me, it seems unlikely to stick it back on the old route given they built straight tracks instead of a junction at park st and built platform stops at Fawkner Park
There's no confirmation, everything I can see, including the Metro tunnel website say it's 'yet to be confirmed.' But they've clearly gone to some effort to include the track and overhead into Domain Rd. It wouldn't take much to put points back in at Toorak/Park, so I certainly wouldn't rule it out based on that.
I always wonder why all of our trains and trams are getting longer, surely its better to keep the same platform lengths and match the trams and trains that are being replaced
The trains have been roughly the same length for a very, very long time - the new HCMTs are 7 car instead of 6, but each car is shorter, so they're only a few meters longer than other 6 car sets. As for the trams - it's because they've historically been tiny, and passenger numbers keep going up!
They need to fix the traffic light sequence at Flinders St, both station and the road. Trams can take 3-4 sequence changes just to get through! Or at least train the drivers to shut the doors before the lights change so the next wave of pedestrians don't then start pushing on and delaying for another sequence.
@@JohnBloggs-m8l Correct, as long as you're within the free tram zone: www.ptv.vic.gov.au/assets/PDFs/Maps/Network-maps/5b4a3efe80/PTV-Free-Tram-Zone-Map.pdf
It’s definitely not the busiest tram section in the world. For example in Prague, 9 tram lines pass through the station “Karlovo Náměstí” and they have peak frequencies of 3-5 minutes, that makes it a tram about every 25 seconds. Additionally, 8 night lines pass there too, each every 15 minutes, so it has about the peak frequency of Melbourne’s busiest section through the entire night too!
My video on the St Kilda area tram lines: ua-cam.com/video/aNF9TLtwsPA/v-deo.htmlsi=FyRef0FBbJ_UAuih
Philip's video on the post-Metro Tunnel tram changes: ua-cam.com/video/GJyVAPNV5fY/v-deo.htmlsi=K5XKlwvDqv6RIoPa
The music at the end of this video was created by my brother Cian, check out his stuff here: hyperfollow.com/cianbennetmusic
Enjoying the channel? For the cost of one coffee a month, you can get early access, behind the scenes videos and your name in the credits via my Patreon: www.patreon.com/Taitset
~This service will be a low-floor tram!~
Your brother did an absolutely amazing job with the outro music... It was an unexpected pleasure to listen to.
I was seeing Wicked last week and someone did a u-turn over the tram tracks. Predictably he blocked a tram which belled him good and proper. But the traffic wasn’t moving on the incoming side and he was blocking the entire tram line. Also predictably he blocked a second tram coming the other way. Then it became musical belling. It kept us theatre-goers in rapt attention for a while.
These videos are so amazing. As a Sydney sider I remember using a tram for the first time and I assumed the Myki reader was on the platform. Turns out I was trying to touch on at an info button 🤦🏼♂️.
I always nearly forget to tap on in Sydney, because I forget they're on the platform! 🙂
@@Taitset Really?
At least you tried to pay.
Which method of tapping on works better, in your opinion? Touching on on the platform seems like a more straightforward way to do it, but does it create long queues and crowding problems at the stop? (I'm a Melbournian and haven't used Sydney's system in 20 years, so I have no idea how your ticketing system works these days...)
@@Taitseti got fined because of it I didn’t know that you had to tap on the platform. I just walked on and later found out about the readers on the platform😂
I was happy to be part of the team designing and commissioning the updated signalling at Mel Uni in Feb 2024 :)
damn cool
"you have to walk (but in czech)" - I found this so funny.
I love that Melbourne is replacing the A, B and Z's with low-floor trams. But there are few trams that look as good as the A, B and Zs so it will be sad once they leave the network.
I don't think the B's will be replaced, they ordered 100 G-Class trams but there are 130 B2-Classes, and combined there are 170 Z3 and A-Classes. it's possible that the order could be increased to 230 with the addition of a longer 5-section "G2" but that still wouldn't cover the B2's. I suspect they'll be in service for another decade or so
The Arts Centre shunting loop is one of my biggest peeves on the network. I feel that if the subsequent Arts Centre stop was an island instead, the trams wouldn't have to slow down unnecessarily a second time before accelerating again to pull into or out of the stop.. the car alignment is perfectly straight to allow for the width of the tram infrastructure, meanwhile the trams are forced to zigzag along some steep curves... They're not exactly known for their slalom abilities
I was literally riding down this corridor this morning and thought... "What if Taitset made a video about this tram corridor." And what do you know around 10 hours later we got it.
what a great video. That ending timelapse was a beautiful touch. In our fast paced tik-tok world, it is a sweet relief to slow yourself down and just watch some trams with some calming music.
I was down that road at night last year waiting for John Cleese to perform at Hamer Hall and it was lovely sitting by the arts centre fountains under lit beneath the water with those animated bird signs on the grass and real ducks floating on the water while the occasional tram streamed by and parkland on the other side. Melbourne often gets ignored for Sydney cos of the harbour but it still has its pretty points. The ding of a Melbourne tram at night can be comforting. It's not too loud like a train horn.
The biggest complaint I have about our tram network is that it has seen very few routes extended in the last 30 years. The outer suburbs would be quite suitable for trams as many roads have enough space to make the tram fairway, so I don't think the journey times to the CBD would be as long as most people expect, especially when this is compared to the time it takes to catch a bus to the train station, then a train to the CBD.
Tram to the train?
@@qjtvaddict Potentially tram to the train station. Or perhaps just tram to the city if we had more fairway zones in the inner and middle ring suburbs so the tip length from the outer suburbs to the CBD via tram wasn't unreasonable. There are lots of ways it could be done. My point is just that we aren't doing any of them. We continue to rely on buses to the train station which often have very indirect routes and as a result spend the vast majority of the day with less than 5 passengers on the bus at any one time. Then we wonder why there is so much traffic everywhere, when it is obvious that it is because public transport in outer suburbs is just too bad for anyone to use if they have another option, unless they are one of the lucky few within walking distance to a train station.
Yeah I wish they had extended it to outer suburbs. Even though it is annoying to drive when their is cars parked on left inner road lane and then you are blocked on outer road lane shared with Trams and you generally can't "undertake" and then when you try and shift lanes in peak hour the car in front has stopped unexpectedly to allow a Tram to disembark passengers do you drive into back of said car...😢
@@centurion8446 I agree that is annoying. I personally think the vast majority of those areas should be no standing 24/7 and then they could try to accommodate more cars in the side streets (i.e. making streets one way/cutting back nature strips so angled parking can be installed etc.)
I just visited Melbourne in order to get a US visa, I went from commercial road station on st kilda rd to Swanson street so I could do a bit of shopping, I was there at peak, so it was very very full. I am from brisbane so tram rides were very exciting for me, and I know the brisbane trains from the back of my hand, considering I have passed almost every station in queensland
Love the endscreen's mix of audio - rising music track + classic sound of tram announcements is hard to beat!
You and Philip always produce high quality and interesting videos. I always look forward to your next releases. I appreciate the positive picture that you paint of our great city. I reckon you two should get together some time, would love to see what a joint effort could produce 😉
Thankyou! I'm sure we will do something together at some point. :)
LOVE the trams here. The tram stops are regular and super convenient. They are fast, new and clean, so much better than being stuck the traffic.
As a Coburg resident I’d love to see another route or two terminate beyond the Uni as the two routes servicing Coburg are overcrowded through Carlton North. There is a disused siding at Brunswick Road which could be used.
The digital bin chickens really fit the vibe at the end there!
Haha yes, part of the reason why I chose that shot!
4:50 - Yeah, I think the only use case where people would take the new train line between the north and south ends of the CBD is if your journey start and end are literally at or beyond the opposite ends of the CBD, AND you can tell there's a train coming soon but not immediately so you can get down to the platforms, AND it won't add an extraneous myki fare to your journeys that day, AND you're aware enough of how the fare system works to recognise it will cost you the same even with the free tram zone.
That still captures a lot of traffic in my opinion, especially regular commuter traffic. But if any of those conditions aren't met a traveller is likely to preference the Swanston street trams over the metro tunnel, and this will include most spontaneous trips and casual travellers I reckon.
They're expecting that the new train tunnel will eventually be a "turn up and go" system, in that trains will arrive every 3 mins or so.
9:57 Not that many North American systems. Toronto is the only one staying unidirectional. Philadelphia uses unidirectional trolleys on the subway-surface lines and a bidirectional version of them on the suburban trolleys. However it appears for both their next order will be bidirectional only. In Boston, the green line uses bidirectional vehicles, while the Ashmont line uses unidirectional streetcars, but with doors on both sides. All the rest of the older transit systems that lived (Pittsburgh, Newark, Cleveland, San Francisco Muni Metro, New Orleans, Mexico City) use bidirectional vehicles exclusively, as well as the modern streetcar and light rail systems. Some heritage streetcar systems though use unidirectional (San Francisco muni streetcar and cable car, El Paso, Kenosha)
Great video! It’s awesome to see this network, the largest and busiest network in the Southern Hemisphere living up to having the busiest corridor in the world!
Your brother’s music in the end should be on Spotify! I’m sure plenty of Melbournians and transit nuts would enjoy it 😁
(Couldn’t find any Easter eggs in this one, or my eyes were lazy to find them!)
There are a couple 😉
What a wonderful way to represent Melbourne! I usually take that corridor for granted! Wonderful video 👏
8:23 While domain rd does have tracks and power lines, there are no tram stops on that section, and the tracks terminate at the Park Rd/Toorak Rd intersection. Perhaps in future they might install a junction that allows domain rd to connect with toorak rd, and then tram services on route 58 can run either via Domain Rd or St Kilda Rd, which is a bit similar to how route 3 can run either on St Kilda Rd or Fitzroy Street
i miss the domain rd trams, they were an excellent way to get to the botanic gardens
8.03 Platform to platform interchange. I always wondered why they didn't build one at Gardiner station a few years ago.
I always wondered why the random curve near Victoria St. Didn't realise most of the shunting trains stopped there up until the 90s.
I'm at Melbourne Uni a lot and spent a lot of time on the St Kilda Road trams. Will be a bit sad to see some of the routes disappear, but hopefully the Metro Tunnel means it will be possible.
Another great video Martin. I've been using this route for decades but never paid much attention to all the little modifications made over the years to increase capacity and reduce delays. Unfortunately, despite all the places where trams can park, turn around, and get out of each other's way, the control centre still regularly turns around trams before they reach their final destination. This is annoying when it happens once during your journey, infuriating when it happens twice. Hopefully once the tunnel opens this might happen less often. Sad also to see that Domain junction got renamed to Anzac station, despite the public vote resulting in a roughly 10-1 preference in favour of Domain.
As i grew older and thought more about rail transport your videos made me know so much more like how i thought that EDI comengs were "the angry ones"💀
When they were in the M-Train colours they were often called 'smiley' Comengs, becuase of the white smile.
same. as a young kid who grew up during the connex era, i nicknamed the EDI comeng's "angry trains" because their design and livery made me think of an angry face for some reason
Nah the Siemens trains with the design of the lights and placement of the coupler makes them look like they r screaming with rage
Cool, i didnt really remember M-train that much
@@Taitset
@@lukegeorge5717 oh yes, I used to nickname the Nexas trains the angry trains and the xtrapolis as the happy trains. I thought I was the only one in the world who would do something like that haha
Mate, that is not fair.... where the hell is my pint 🍺 🍻 🍺 🍻 🍺 beer!!!!!
Thank you for this excellent insight. As a Melbourne native I don’t usually get trams as often as I should but you have given me a new perspective on this mode of transport! Bravo!
Can you make a video on historic stations like Flinders street and Williamstown station? Love these videos, a shame the current metro is so unorganised sometimes…
As someone who lives along this corridor where the number 6 splits off towards High St I feel very spoiled when I see a CBD-bound tram approaching the station - instead of chasing the tram to get on (knowing that they come so frequently) I watch the train leave and take a slow stroll and by the time I reach the boarding area at the tram stop a second tram will have just arrived
Ironically I got the notification for this video while I was waiting for the Route 72
Sorry for being so late the party, I saw the 30 minute and "now premiering" announcements on my train ride home, but didn't want to disturb the transit quiet, great vid as always!
I was a regular customer on route 5/64 and 67 in the latter part of the 80's. Just last year I found myself on no. 5 tram from Orrong road and into Swanson street and back.
I am often guilty of saying nothing gets better in this world, and certainly not in Melbourne! But I was pleasantly surprised by my experience, that day. Both trips took a little under half an hour, which I'm certain is a lot faster than it used to be (any comments?), the tram was far quieter, heated and generally felt more spacious. The inner suburbs of Melbourne are certainly spoiled by the tram network. Our forefathers got that right and it's something that our more recent mobs of incompetent clowns haven't managed to destroy. Good to see.
So good! That ending also had amazing vibes.
The extent to which I use the trams myself are just to skirt around the city faster. Any "main" transport always involves trains, so I never really researched much into how the trams actually route themselves. I think that it's beautifully designed in that you don't *need* to have this sort of in-depth understanding of the networks in order to still use them, but it can be useful to have in those brief disruptions. Great video.
Awesome video, keep up the great work! Also, as resident of Brno, Im happy that Czechia got mentioned😄
Your video reminded me of when I worked in StKilda road back in the 1980s. I caught the route 67 from Glen Huntley. Young people nowadays don’t have the problem of many strikes especially the trains. When there were train strikes it was impossible to catch a 67 tram out from StKilda road they went past completely packed. Had to catch the tram into the city and out again! Worst days were when the trains and trams were on strike!
Malvern Depot also runs some trams along the route 58 as well
Great video Sir! I just got back from a week in Melbourne, and always love riding the trams there. Such a great city and so easy to get around. The "B"s" are my favourite and got to ride a few of them on the 58. Look forward to getting back there soon.
Cheers Gregg.
it's insane how many trams operate on swanston street, going from melb central to the university of melbourne i rarely have to wait more then 30 seconds for a tram!
🚆🚆🚆🚆 FUNNY...WAS JUST ON A TRAIN TODAY😊JUST SUBBED MATE 👍
Really good video, thanks Martin. You've brought me up to date with the corridor, so much has changed since I was a regular passenger and the B2s were new!
Great video :) in my home city we had a tram corridor with about 45 trams/hour per direction off-peak (so every 80 s) and some more during peak, but it has since been replaced by a tram tunnel (with reduced capacity due to signalling). Interesting to see how Melbourne manages this busy corridor!
another great explainer video, nice one martin! love your vids
Living next to Brunswick Tram depot it's nice to see where they go once they leave this locale
This is an insanely well researched and edited video. Keep the quality up!!!
I was just thinking a few hours ago that I'd like to see a video on this. Thanks for a great overview
6:58 "I wish i was a B class"
I saw it too. very funny.
I used to live just down from this corridor on st Kilda Rd while attending Melbourne Uni so I could take a lot of different tram routes but not all of them and it took me so long to memorise which ones wouldn't turn off st Kilda Rd before my stop 😂.
If you've already tapped on to come into the city then you can probably take the city loop while still on your 2hr pass so that's one less barrier to using the city loop but I do notice people do tend to lean towards taking the trams in the city anyway. I'll often switch to the city loop during peak because they're often way less crowded. E.g. trying to get to marvel stadium via tram from melb central can be really hard when something is on but the trains are usually pretty chill.
Thanks for this, always learn something new!
Yesterday, I saw a comeng with the metro metlink livery, and a Siemens on the Dandenong corridor.
Ah the uni melb walk of frustration to work when Yarra Trams terminates a tram one stop early from uni melb and you have to walk the last part. At least 3 times a week. Do not miss that.
Another great video, Keep it up. ❤
Love your videos
Oy, I remember when the flinders street stop went all the way to the light and we had a southbound stop outside st Paul's, never like being caught at the lights in either direction
Great explanation! I love your videos man❤
Excellent video, 10/10
Great Video Martin. This makes me want to visit Australia and see this corridor for myself. If I could get past the long flight from the US! The Timelapse at the end was great.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Huh, I always thought Melbourne tram runs on meter gauge. What a surprise.
I knew the city of Freiburg got some of Melbournes trams when Siemens had to deal with the Cobino disaster. Freiburg got some Melbourne trams while the Freiburg units were refurbished (They had problems with the welds holding the carriages together)
I always assumed that was because Melbourne trams were similar. But they must have changed the bogies too to make that work.
Are you sure it was Melbourne they got them from? I've never heard of it, and I'm quite sure none of our trams could be converted to metre gauge.
@@Taitset the story back then was that Freiburg got replacement sets from trams originally destined to Melbourne. Siemens was in all sorts of trouble, it could mean that Melbourne just had to wait a bit longer.
Perhaps they were redesignated to Freiburg early in the production process. I actually don't know.
That was 2005, I can't find anything on the net again. It was in the local news back then.
My naive conclusion back then was that they had the same gauge because of that. But that's obviously wrong.
Great video! As someone who lives on St Kilda road, there is a lot of trams at night at it might (maybe) be hard to sleep.
You're in one of Melbourne's premier locations. There's always compromise.
I would say that Zurich's famous Hauptbahnhof tram stop is just as busy
Interesting point. But it doesn't have the length of the Melbourne stretch. However, Zurich's tram routes have a complexity that leaves Melbourne's bigger network in second place.
Could the Timelapse background music be turned into a full piece? I‘d love a proper longer version
3:14 wow the state of the tracks
likely just an illusion created by the telephoto lens. it can be seen in other tram and trainspotting videos, even on pristine, brand-new track
It's not so much an illusion, as an exaggeration. Those bumps are certainly there, but only noticable with the compressed perspective. On 100% perfect track (which we don't have anywhere in Victoria), it would look dead level.
@@Taitset yeah exaggeration is probably a better word to use
Great video, thank you!
Need an extended version of 'this service will be a low-floor tram'
Yes I would like to make this happen :)
Ohhhh. That explains why there was hardly any inspectors on the 19. That's, technically, Melbourne Uni, but it's not. 😅
Also explains what that lil building is next to the rock climbing place!
I've gotta go ride some trams soon, I think. I don't think I've been to the new Domain Interchange (it'll always be called that in my book!), nor the St Kilda terminus thingy.
as a unimelb student with classes at both the melbourne uni parkville campus, and the southbank campus, it is a very tiring trip lol
but i wouldnt know what id do without my trams
of course though, both campuses are just a few stops outside the free tram zone
Excellent video!
I really enjoyed this, thank you!
I’d really love an explainer video on the tram route numbers… especially 109. How’d it get up so high?
Great video
🥳 brilliant video as always
Brilliant, Martin! 👍
I wonder what will happen with the junction and the tracks at Toorak Road when Route 58 is returned to Domain Road. I didn't even know that was happening anyway. I guess people will have to walk a bit to change from St Kilda Road trams to Route 58 when construction is complete, but as they say, only time will tell.
hi taitset! quick suggestion, u should add the line colours to the outline around the thumbnails for the line explainers, for example the Hurstbridge line explainers outline would have the red of the Clifton Hill group.
Thanks for the video 😊
Basel's Tram Network might actually have busier sections. Though i guess it depends how you define "corridor", in Basel's case trams switch on and off the busy parts all over the place and the "corridor" is significantly shorter over all. In the busiest sections there are 6 lines running every 7,5 Minutes on the same tracks off-peak (every 75s), increasing to 7 lines every 7,5 Minutes at peak time (every 64.3 s)
The constant jumble of routes does mean it's lacking a cool switchback section like at Melbourne University though.
Where the rail line aligns with a tram route, I think it would be good to include train travel in the fare free zone, as an incentive to use the train instead. You'd still tap on and off but there'd be no charge.
I always wanted to know how exactly the two tracks could possibly cope with so many trams. Although I guess they can be a lot closer together than trains.
Very cool - thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Out of interest, how do you isolate the individual tram routes in the tram network map featured in the video? 🤔
Glad you enjoyed it! I do the maps in photoshop, first I make a greyscale layer so all the colour vanishes, then from the original layer I select each route and make it a new layer over the top of they grey one - that way I end up with a .psd file where I can turn all the routes on and off, then save them as separate .jpgs for use in the video.
@@Taitset Nice one - the effort definitely shows! :)
Thankyou! Congrats in advance on 30k subscribers by the way, looks like you're going to be there very soon!
@@Taitset Cheers! You’re not far off it yourself. 🙌
The 67 tram stops directly in front of the entrance to the new Glen Huntly station. I don't know if this counts as a platform-to-platform transfer but when you step off a city-bound tram it's about five metres to the myki readers in the station which is pretty bloody close! I've been wondering whether there are any tram stops closer to station entrances anywhere else on the network but you said there aren't any?
That does come pretty close, as does Flinders Street station to the Fed Square tram stop, and Southern Cross country platforms to the stop on Spencer Street. I'd argue they're all a bit different though, in that they still involve technically leaving the station area, and all those examples (except for one direction at Glen Huntly) involve crossing a road lane too. Anzac will not involve crossing any road lanes (or rail/tram lines for that matter), and the entrance to the station will be 'on' the tram platform. Obviously 'platform to platform' could be interpreted in different ways of course. :)
Also works well the other way. Off the train and onto the depot/city/university bound tram with out stepping on the road. There is even a panel now showing how long until the next tram.
@@Kevin-go2dw I'd like to know why that screen doesn't show departures for the other direction. I have to cross the road and walk up the platform to see whether I should wait for a tram or just walk home
at Balaclava station there's platforms on either side of the tram stop outside which take up the width of a car lane, but the station itself is elevated and you need to walk up a ramp or stairs to get to the myki readers. if Balaclava station was in a trench I imagine it'd be very similar to the new Glen Huntly station. the interchange at Balaclava station is still very seamless though, it's just a bit of a long walk from the myki readers compared to some other stations
there is also a citybound tram stop directly outside the Elsternwick station entrance (and I mean directly outside, like you walk out the door and you're basically at the tram stop), but no platform
Great to see another video of yours of the trams, some thing to point out is how you said Elgin St, I’ve always said it with a soft g, like a j sound, is that the correct way or is the way you said it correct. Anyways, Amazing video!! (And I haven’t even finished it yet haha)
Good question, I just assumed it's pronounced that way! Would have to ask some Melbourne Uni people.
Hey Martin,
Where did you find conformation about 58 shifting back to its old route? I emailed all the departments ages ago (before Phillip!) and flicked through the business case but nothing has given me a solid answer, its all been speculation. To me, it seems unlikely to stick it back on the old route given they built straight tracks instead of a junction at park st and built platform stops at Fawkner Park
There's no confirmation, everything I can see, including the Metro tunnel website say it's 'yet to be confirmed.' But they've clearly gone to some effort to include the track and overhead into Domain Rd. It wouldn't take much to put points back in at Toorak/Park, so I certainly wouldn't rule it out based on that.
Taitset could u do a video on the box hill Suburban Rail Loop East and its history?
Babe, new taitset video!
Despite the best efforts of architects, the St Kilda Road corridor remains one of the most beautiful parts of Melbourne
I always wonder why all of our trains and trams are getting longer, surely its better to keep the same platform lengths and match the trams and trains that are being replaced
The trains have been roughly the same length for a very, very long time - the new HCMTs are 7 car instead of 6, but each car is shorter, so they're only a few meters longer than other 6 car sets. As for the trams - it's because they've historically been tiny, and passenger numbers keep going up!
Where did you get the G class tram model? Can you get it from Metro Tunnel HQ?
I was given it when I went to see the full size mock up, not sure if they're available anywhere else yet.
They need to fix the traffic light sequence at Flinders St, both station and the road. Trams can take 3-4 sequence changes just to get through! Or at least train the drivers to shut the doors before the lights change so the next wave of pedestrians don't then start pushing on and delaying for another sequence.
Ummmm, 5:07 @Taitset? I saw that. lol
It's a pretty good deal hey! 😉
Is the free city loop tram still running these days?
Yes the City Circle still runs. The fact that it's free isn't really relevant any more though, as all trams in the CBD are free.
@@Taitset Really? I don't need to bother tapping the Myki anymore then?
@@JohnBloggs-m8l Correct, as long as you're within the free tram zone: www.ptv.vic.gov.au/assets/PDFs/Maps/Network-maps/5b4a3efe80/PTV-Free-Tram-Zone-Map.pdf
Any idea what the second busiest tram corridor in the world would be?
Can you do a video on skyrail
World's busiest tram route with traffic lights every 200m
8:48 I actually hate this it's so hard to interchange in this city it's not gonna help with that
It’s definitely not the busiest tram section in the world. For example in Prague, 9 tram lines pass through the station “Karlovo Náměstí” and they have peak frequencies of 3-5 minutes, that makes it a tram about every 25 seconds. Additionally, 8 night lines pass there too, each every 15 minutes, so it has about the peak frequency of Melbourne’s busiest section through the entire night too!
The other busiest part is at the old demain interchange station.
Being early at a taitset vid be like:
The true early is watching it three days ago
Hey Taitset,Will you play train games in the future?
hey taitset,will you make a discord server soon?
No immediate plans, but I might at some point!
cool@@Taitset
Aw yea
As a daily commuter of this train for Uni I hate how it's $5.6 for an extra station. Hope they increase the free tram zone.