East Preston tram depot was a depot on the

Yarra Trams Yarra Trams is the trading name of the operator of the tram network in Melbourne, Australia, which is owned by VicTrack and leased to Yarra Trams by the Victorian Department of Transport. The current franchise is operated by Keolis Downer. ...

network in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Located on Plenty Road, East Preston, it opened in 1955 to coincide with the reintroduction of trams to

Bourke Street Bourke Street is one of the main streets in the Melbourne central business district and a core feature of the Hoddle Grid. It was traditionally the entertainment hub of inner-city Melbourne, and is now also a popular tourist destination and ...

. It closed in April 2016.

History

The

Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board The Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) was a government-owned authority that was responsible for the tram network in Melbourne, Australia between 1919 and 1983, when it was merged into the Metropolitan Transit Authority. It had bee ...

made plans in 1938 for a depot in Preston, on the site later occupied by the now closed Preston & Northcote Community Hospital, but these were dropped due to congestion concerns. The current site was identified in the early 1950s, and opened on 26 June 1955, replacing the old Preston depot (also referred to as Thornbury depot). Its opening coincided with the reintroduction of tram services to

; the former Bourke Street cable lines, Melbourne's last, had been converted to bus operations on 26 October 1940. When the

Public Transport Corporation The Public Transport Corporation (PTC) was a Victoria State Government owned statutory authority formed under the Transport Act 1983 which operated passenger and freight trains, trams and bus services. The PTC was also responsible for directly ...

was privatised in August 1999, East Preston depot passed to

. In 2000 a paint shop and refurbishment bay was established. Between 2000 and 2004 these facilities were used to apply all over advertising liveries. In 2006 East Preston depot became Yarra Trams' first 'Green Depot'. A variety of initiatives were implemented aimed at lowering the environmental footprint of the depot, including, three rainwater tanks with a combined capacity of 18,000 litres, water efficient appliances within the depot, 60 solar panels, and more efficient lighting and cooling technology. Energy consumption dropped 40% while 424,800 litres of water was saved in the 2005–06-year. During August 2012 track renewal took place, affecting roads one to ten. In April 2016, East Preston tram depot closed with operations transferred to

Preston Workshops Preston Workshops is the heavy maintenance facility for the Melbourne tram network. The workshop is located on a block surrounded by Miller Street, St George's Road, Oakover Road and the Mernda railway line in Preston, a suburb of Melbourne, Au ...

. It is now used for storing trams. The refurbishments are being undertaken for life extension at the East Preston Depot.

Layout

The depot consists of 13 roads, 10 of which are covered.

Routes

When it closed in April 2016, the following routes operated from East Preston depot: * 11: West Preston to Victoria Harbour Docklands * 86: Bundoora RMIT to Waterfront City Docklands

References

{{coord, -37.7441, 145.0063, region:AU-VIC, display=title Tram depots in Melbourne Transport infrastructure completed in 1955 1955 establishments in Australia 2016 disestablishments in Australia Buildings and structures in the City of Darebin