Melbourne tram route 78 is operated by

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 ...

on the

Melbourne tram network Trams are a major form of Transport in Melbourne, public transport in Melbourne, the capital city of the States of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. As of May 2017, the Melbourne tramway network consists of of dou ...

from North Richmond to Balaclava. The 6.5 kilometre route is operated out of Kew depot with A class trams.

History

A section of

Chapel Street Chapel Street is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, running along the inner suburbs of South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor, St Kilda and St Kilda East. Route Chapel Street is essentially straight and runs for over 4.14 kilometres along an approximat ...

was first served by a cable tram line opened in 1888, which ran from Brighton Road to Toorak Road, then turned towards

St Kilda Road St Kilda Road is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is part of the locality of Melbourne which has the postcode of 3004, and along with Swanston Street forms a major spine of the city. St Kilda Road begins at Flinders Street, in ...

and into the CBD. Between 1924 and 1926 the cable tram line was converted to electric traction by 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 ...

, and was extended along Church Street, forming the route as it operates today. It ran with two variations: route 79, turning from Chapel Street along Carlisle Street to St Kilda Beach, and route 77, which turned from the southern part of the route at

Swan Street Swan Street (and its western section as Olympic Boulevard) is a major street running through the Melbourne suburbs of Richmond, Cremorne and Burnley. The street was named after the White Swan Hotel, built in 1852 on the corner of Swan and Chur ...

and continued into the city. The latter route was discontinued in November 1986. On 14 February 1965 operation of route 78 was transferred from Hawthorn depot to Kew depot. From 30 April 1972 it was jointly operated by Glenhuntly and Kew depots.More on 30 April changes ''

Transit Australia ''Transit Australia'' was a Sydney based monthly magazine covering public transport in Australia and New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses� ...

'' July 2017 page 217 From 2 April 1995, it was solely operated by Glenhuntly. In the late 20th century, the line ran predominantly as route 79. Like nearly all tram lines in Melbourne, it was served by W class trams. In the 1990s with the gradual withdrawal of the W-class, the route was operated by Z and A class trams. W class trams were re-introduced in July 2004, after they received brake upgrades. It was one of only three routes running the old trams, the others being route 30 and the City Circle tram. In 2014 the Ws were withdrawn and replaced by Z and A class trams. On 27 July 2014, the route 79 variation was discontinued.Capacity boost for Melbourne's tram system ''Trolley Wire'' issue 338 August 2014 page 21 The route was transferred back to Kew Depot on 30 April 2017. This was so there was more room for the larger B-class trams that were to be transferred to Glenhuntly.

Route

The route starts at the Victoria Street terminus then runs along Church Street,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, crossing Bridge Road and

. It continues over the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stre ...

into the suburb of

South Yarra South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Stonnington local government areas. South Yarra recorded a popul ...

along

, crossing Toorak Road. Continuing down Chapel Street, it terminates at Brighton Road, Balaclava. It is one of only two tram routes which does not travel through the

Melbourne CBD The Melbourne central business district (also known colloquially as simply "The City" or "The CBD") is the city centre and main urban area of the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, centred on the Hoddle Grid, the oldest part of the city lai ...

, the other being route 82.

Map

References

External links

{{MelbourneTramNavbox, state=collapsed 078 Transport in the City of Yarra Transport in the City of Stonnington Transport in the City of Port Phillip 1926 establishments in Australia