The Karachi to Melbourne tram or the W-11 tram was Z class tram Z1 81 decorated by a team of professional Pakistani vehicle decorators, commissioned by the

City of Melbourne The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The ci ...

for the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

Origin of the name

The name is based on the W-11 buses originally found in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, which are a model of minibus famous for their entertainment value: decorated with lush designs and playing popular Pakistani or Indian music. Competition between buses has made these buses famous for their extravagant designs and entertainment.

The tram

As a showcase of Pakistani culture, Z class tram Z1 81 was commissioned for the Commonwealth Games, and a team of W-11 decorators were invited to decorate the tram at

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 ...

. For the duration of the games it operated on the

City Circle The City Circle is a mostly-underground railway line located in the Sydney central business district and Haymarket, in New South Wales, Australia, that forms the core of Sydney's passenger rail network. The lines are owned by the Transport A ...

, playing Bhangra and Pakistani music. It returned to service in the summer of 2006/07 operating Friday night City Circle services. It has been on display at the Melbourne Tram Museum at Hawthorn depot since June 2015.

References

External links

{{MelbourneTramNavbox, state=collapsed Australia–Pakistan relations Decorated vehicles Trams in Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games