M-Tram (stylised as M>Tram) was a tram operator 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 ...
, Australia. Formed in October 1997 as Swanston Trams, a business unit of 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 ...
, it was privatised in August 1999 becoming a subsidiary of
National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
. In December 2002 National Express handed the franchise in, with the
State Government
A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...
taking over until negotiations were concluded for
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. As ...
to take over in April 2004.
History
On 1 October 1997 in preparation for privatisation, 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 ...
's tram operations were split into two business units, Swanston Trams and
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. As ...
.
National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
successfully bid to take over the Swanston Trams services from 29 August 1999. National Express were also awarded the
Bayside Trains franchise and
V/Line
V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cross ...
concession.
In October 2000 Swanston Trams was rebranded as M-Tram. After an attempted sale of the franchise to Yarra Trams failed, National Express handed back the franchise in December 2002, having been unable to renegotiate financial terms with the
State Government
A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...
.
KPMG
KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations.
Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...
were appointed to operate the business on behalf of the State Government. In May 2003 the State Government announced it would establish a single company to operate both networks, and was negotiating with
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. As ...
(who operated the other half of the network) to operate this entity. In February 2004 an agreement was reached, and the networks were reunited on 18 April 2004.
Operations
The M-Tram network was focused on the north–south tram routes in Melbourne, running 17 routes along
Swanston,
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
and
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
Streets though the
CBD and then into the suburbs as well as cross-suburban routes.
National Express inherited 30
W, 94
Z1, 12
Z2, 84
Z3 and 55
B2 class trams and took over the operation of four depots;
Brunswick,
Essendon Essendon may refer to:
Australia
*Electoral district of Essendon
*Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington
*Essendon, Victoria
**Essendon railway station
**Essendon Airport
*Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League
United King ...
,
Glenhuntly and
Malvern
Malvern or Malverne may refer to:
Places Australia
* Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide
* Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne
* City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne
* Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...
.
Part of the franchise agreement required replacement of older rolling stock with newer models, and refurbishment of the existing rolling stock.
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
Combino
The Siemens Combino is a low-floor tram produced by Siemens Mobility (formerly Duewag). The first prototype was produced in 1996 at the Duewag works in Düsseldorf; the trams are now made in Krefeld- Uerdingen.
Due to its modular design using ...
trams were purchased as the
D1 and D2 class, the first of 38 D1 three-car class trams entering service on 19 December 2002 and the first of 21 five-car D2 class trams on 3 March 2004. Z3 and B2 class trams were also internally refurbished by M>Tram, receiving green seat pads, and yellow stanchions and grab rails.
References
External links
Showbus gallery
{{NEXG
National Express companies
Trams in Melbourne
Transport companies established in 1997
Transport companies disestablished in 2004
1997 establishments in Australia
2004 disestablishments in Australia