The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), known to the general public as The Met, was a

Government of Victoria The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive ...

owned corporate body that operated suburban passenger trains, trams and buses in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. It was set up under Section 15 of the

Transport Act 1983 The Transport Act 1983 (the Act) was the main statute establishing government transport organisations and regulating land transport activities in the State of Victoria, Australia for 27 years from mid-1983 to mid-2010. The Act was used as the veh ...

and commenced operation on 1 July 1983. It was a statutory body set up to manage the

trams A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

formerly operated 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 ...

, the metropolitan train operations of the former VicRail, and the operations of the former

Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority The City Loop (originally called the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop or MURL) is a mostly- underground and partly surface-level subway and rail system in the central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Loop includes ...

. The authority employed more than 12,000 people across five divisions in 1984/85. The aim of the authority was to integrate the provision of

public transport in Melbourne Transport in Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, consists of several interlinking modes. Melbourne is a hub for intercity, intracity and regional travel. Road-based transport accounts for most trips across many parts of the ci ...

. A green and gold livery was adopted for vehicles, with a yellow

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four ring ...

logo and "Metropolitan Transit" tagline (later changed to "The Met"). In April 1985 it purchased

Melbourne-Brighton Bus Lines Melbourne-Brighton Bus Lines was an Australian bus and coach operator in Melbourne. History Melbourne-Brighton Bus Lines was formed in 1954 when a multitude of operators who operated route 1 Gardenvale to Melbourne City Centre and 2 Middle Br ...

with 37 buses. A single

Harris Harris may refer to: Places Canada * Harris, Ontario * Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine) * Harris, Saskatchewan * Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan Scotland * Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle of ...

train was painted in a trial all-over green and gold livery (similar to the previous Victorian Railways blue and gold livery) however the train reverted to blue prior to re-entering service, with subsequent Comeng,

Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...

and refurbished

trains receiving only green and yellow adhesive stickers between the windows rather than being painted. Non-refurbished Harris trains retained the Victorian Railways blue and gold until their withdrawal.

Divisions

Metropolitan rail services were previously operated by VicRail. The MetRail division was established as part of MTA, and worked closely with the State Transport Authority (STA) to provide suburban rail services. The MTA provided funds to the STA to operate some train services on its behalf and for capital projects relating to MetRail. The Met Bus and Met Tram divisions took over the services operated by the former

. By 11 April 1988, integration of the transport systems had been achieved and the separate divisions brought together. The management of the MTA was restructured into three

vertically integrated In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the supply ...

directorates concerning operations, project development and resources. The MTA was merged with the STA on 1 July 1989 to form 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 ...

(PTC). The PTC was privatised in stages in the 1990s. In December 1993, the

Doncaster East Doncaster East is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Manningham local government area. Doncaster East recorded a population of 30,926 at the 2021 ...

and

North Fitzroy Fitzroy North is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cites of City of Merri-bek, Merri-bek ...

bus depots were taken over by the National Bus Company. The remaining bus operations out of Footscray and

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places * Sandringham, New South Wales, Australia * Sandringham, Queensland, Australia * Sandringham, Victoria, Australia **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station **Electoral district of Sandringham * Sand ...

depots were taken over by

Melbourne Bus Link Melbourne Bus Link was an Australian bus and coach operator in Melbourne. It was a Buses in Melbourne, Melbourne bus company that operated nine List of Melbourne bus routes, bus routes under contract to the Public Transport Victoria. Melbourne B ...

in April 1998. In October 1997 in preparation for privatisation, the PTC's suburban rail and tram operations were split into separate business units, Bayside Trains, Hillside Trains, 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. ...

. All were privatised in August 1999.National Express Group Awarded Three Franchises

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 ...

June 1999

References

External links

Public Record Office Victoria - Metropolitan Transit Authority
{{MelbourneTramNavbox Defunct railway companies of Australia Former government agencies of Victoria (Australia) Government agencies established in 1983 Government agencies disestablished in 1989 Trams in Melbourne 1983 establishments in Australia 1989 disestablishments in Australia