Tram 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 ...

s in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

were first used for

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

in 1887. They ceased to operate as a means of public transport in 1971, but a section continues to be operated today as a tourist attraction. At its peak in 1937, the Ballarat tramway network was the largest in Australia operating outside one of the capital cities,pg. 7. Examiner. Tuesday 10 August 1937 with 7 principal routes and more than 24 kilometres of track. Most of the network was closed and replaced with buses on 19 September 1971 after which the

Ballarat Tramway Museum The Ballarat Tramway Museum is an operating tramway museum, located in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The museum is run by volunteers and has a fleet of trams which operate on part of the original horse tramway around Lake Wendouree an ...

preserved a single electrified track along Wendouree Parade at

Lake Wendouree Lake Wendouree () is an artificially created and maintained shallow urban lake located adjacent to the suburb of the same name in the city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The name Wendouree comes from a local Aboriginal word ''wendaaree'' w ...

to operate a tourist service. From its depot adjacent to the

Ballarat Botanical Gardens The Ballarat Botanical Gardens Reserve, located on the western shore of picturesque Lake Wendouree, in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, covers an area of 40 hectares which is divided into three distinct zones. The central Botanical Gardens reserve ...

, the museum operates its historic collection of electric trams from around Australia, including some that were operated on the original Ballarat system.

1880s — origins and the horse-drawn tramway

In an 1884 council meeting, the

City of Ballaarat The City of Ballaarat was a local government area covering the inner suburbs of the regional city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1855 until 1994. History The spelling of the name was a sourc ...

decided on the establishment of a tramway to meet the growing city's transport needs and a Tramway Committee was formed. Tenders were called in 1886 to operate a tramway in the city. The successful tenderer was Mr. Thompson, of Adelaide who proposed a horse drawn system.pg. 4. Camperdown Chronicle. Saturday 22 May 1886 He was granted a 30-year licence for the sum of £1575 per annum, after which the system would be handed to the council. Provision was to be made in future for the rolling stock being powered by other means. Thompson and business partner Moore formed the Ballarat Tramway Company which built and promoted the tramway. The first line was opened at a banquet in the Botanical Gardens on 26 December 1887. The six mile (9.7 km)

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

line ran from Sturt Street to the gardens and around Lake Wendouree. The rolling stock consisted of double-decker trams built in Adelaide, each drawn by multiple horses.pg. 9. The Argus. Thursday 22 December 1887 The company constructed and operated a maintenance facility north of the gardens. Sturt and lydiard streets in 1899

The tramway was immediately popular and it was not long before work began on extensions for the southern branch line to the town of

Sebastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

via Skipton Street

Redan Redan (a French word for "projection", "salient") is a feature of fortifications. It is a work in a V-shaped salient angle towards an expected attack. It can be made from earthworks or other material. The redan developed from the lunette, o ...

and Albert Street, and two northern branch lines to service the city's suburbs along Drummond Street North and Soldiers Hill. At its peak, the horse-drawn system had 19 trams, servicing 5 principal routes: Drummond Street; Gardens; Lydiard Street; Sebastopol; Sturt Street West. All were double decker, with the exception of the Drummond Street tram.

1900s — electrification

In November 1900, the Ballarat City Council gave permission to the

British Insulated Wire Company Limited British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

to build an electric tram network. The building was done by its subsidiary, the

Electric Supply Company of Victoria The Australian state of Victoria has a number of defunct energy supply and distribution utility companies. The North Melbourne Electric Tramways and Lighting Company The North Melbourne Electric Tramways and Lighting Company operated an electric ...

, which was also to supply electricity to the town. A bluestone power station was built at the corner of Ripon Street and Wendouree Parade in 1901 to provide the electricity supply. The company took over the running of the horse trams from the Ballarat Tramway Company in December 1902, and work on the electric network began in November 1904 and the first electric trams went into service on 18 August 1905. The whole tramway was electrified and the rolling stock was replaced by electric trams operated by the Electric Supply Company of Victoria. The last horse tram ran in August 1913 on the Sebastopol line which was officially opened as an electric tramway on 14 August 1913. Town hall and sturt street ballarat 1917

Town hall and sturt street ballarat 1917

1930s — SECV era

The State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV) acquired the network in 1934. In 1936, the state government proposed to extend the Lydiard Street route to the Ballaarat New Cemetery and

Ballarat North Ballarat North (also known as ''North Ballarat'') is a suburb of Ballarat, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia located north of Ballarat's central area. Ballarat North is bounded by Norman Street; Ballarat General Cemetery and Western Fr ...

. Despite strong patronage, the system posted its first significant loss in 1937 of £6013. At the time, the Ballarat network was one of the largest such systems in Australia, behind that of Sydney (), Melbourne (), Brisbane (), Perth (), Adelaide () and Hobart (), but larger than that of Newcastle, Launceston (), Geelong () and Bendigo ().

1970s — closure and preservation

Throughout the 1960s, passenger patronage fell and operating losses mounted. From 1962 onwards, the SECV and the Victorian government attempted to close the system but did not have the required parliamentary support in the Legislative Council. After winning control of the Legislative Council in the 1970 election, the

Bolte government Bolte may refer to: *Bolte Bridge, large twin Cantilever bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia *Charles L. Bolte (1895–1989), U.S. Army general and World War I and World War II veteran *Henry Bolte Sir Henry Edward Bolte GCMG (20 May 19 ...

had the numbers to close the tramways in both Ballarat and Bendigo. In 1971 the government announced that the tramway system would be closed and replaced by buses. In September 1971, a large contingent of the Ballarat population turned out to farewell the last trams after the government systematically shut down the network. In May 1971 the Lake Wendouree Tramway Museum Committee began negotiating with the SECV to continue to maintain a section of track. The Ballarat Tramway Preservation Society was also formed in 1971 to start, and run, an authentic tramway. The Ballarat Tramway Preservation Society's original plan was to keep all the tramway that ran around the shores of Lake Wendouree. However, after discussions with the SECV and the City of Ballarat, only the section of track in the Botanical Gardens was retained. The first trip on the museum's tramway was in December 1974, and the track was officially opened on 1 February 1975. The first tram to run was Ballarat No. 40, which had been the last tram to run on the SECV network.

The Society changed its name to the Ballarat Tramway Museum. It operates trams on weekends, public and school holidays. In December 2014, the Museum installed an 18 kW solar power system, with 72 solar panels, which allows the trams to operate on

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

. In 2018, 280 metres of the 1.3 km preserved tramway was replaced with new rails using the latest construction methods. This project replaced track laid in 1905.

Revival proposals

Since the 1990s proposals have been put to the

City of Ballarat The City of Ballarat is a local government area in the west of the state of Victoria, Australia. It covers an area of and, in June 2018, had a population of 107,325. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is primarily urban with the v ...

to reinstate sections of the network. Many of these focus on trams as a major tourist transport facility and tourist attraction. Others support a return of trams as a viable component of the Ballarat public transport system. Proposed destinations include

Ballarat railway station Ballarat railway station is located on the Serviceton line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the city of Ballarat, and it opened on 11 April 1862 as Ballarat West. It was renamed Ballarat in 1865.

Sovereign Hill Sovereign Hill is an open-air museum in Golden Point, a suburb of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Sovereign Hill depicts Ballarat's first ten years after the discovery of gold there in 1851. It was officially opened on 29 November 1970 and has ...

loop, Bridge Mall and Sturt Street. In 2001 there was a strong push to reinstate a tram system. By mid-2001, a vocal lobby for a tourist route through the CBD had gained the support of the

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) is Australia's largest and most representative business association, comprising state and territory chambers of commerce and national industry associations. ACCI represents Australian busines ...

Australian Hotels Association The Australian Hotels Association (AHA) is a federation of not-for-profit employer associations in the hotel and hospitality industry, registered under the Fair Work Act and respective State Laws. The AHA's role is to further and protect the inte ...

and the Ballarat operations of transport manufacturer

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

. Financial assessments completed in 2002 deemed the $20 million project viable with a projected profit of $150,000 per annum, though dependent on a grant from the state and Commonwealth. Public support for it was also high. The chosen route would have run from Ballarat Railway station at Doveton Crescent, along Lydiard Street, down Mair Street, Peel Street, through the Llanberris reserve to Sovereign Hill and the Gold Museum. Ballarat City Council voted down the proposal in 2002, stating that the idea would not be reconsidered for at least a decade. Submissions relating to the reinstatement of trams along Sturt Street during the City of Ballarat's CBD Strategy consultation in 2009. The project had been costed at $70 million and deemed as too expensive and inflexible for the local council to maintain in the final report. The Sturt Street route proposal was dismissed by Ballarat MP and Regional Australia Minister Catherine King in the lead up to the

2013 Australian federal election The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on 7 September 2013. The centre-right Liberal/National Coalition opposition led by Opposition leader Tony Abbott of the Liberal Party of Aus ...

, claiming that at a cost of $90 million, the project would be too expensive, indicating instead a preference to invest in local sporting facilities. Calls were renewed in August 2014 with news that a feasibility study would be undertaken to extend Bendigo's network. A circuit route was proposed from Ballarat railway station to Lake Wendouree via Mair Street, Dawson Street, Sturt Street, Bridge Mall and Lydiard Street back to the railway station. However, this proposal once again met with ambivalence from the council and members of parliament over issues such as the route and cost, and no commitment to a project was forthcoming. A discussion group on the reasons for a
expanded Ballarat Tram Network
has been formed.

Historic extent of the network

At its peak, the Ballarat network included seven main routes some of which shared the same sections of track: * Victoria Street * Mount Pleasant * Gardens via Drummond Street North * Gardens via Sturt Street West * Sebastopol * Lydiard Street North * View Point The operation was mostly running recycled rolling stock from both Adelaide and Melbourne with a wide variety of tram models in service. Further background reading on the extent of the network can be found on Historical Tramways of Ballarat

Surviving trams

There are a number of trams which operated on the Ballarat tramways which have survived, and some are still in service.

Ballarat Tramway Company

The Ballarat Tramway Company operated 18 horse-drawn trams in Ballarat. After the introduction of electric trams some horse trams were used as trailers and towed behind the electric trams. Tram 1 was used by the company to transport the crew's bicycles between the depot and the main terminus. It was then sold for use as a backyard shed. It was later rediscovered and returned to the Museum where it was extensively restored. * Horse tram No.1 (1887) – in service Ballarat Tramway Museum (BTM)

Electric Supply Company

The Electric Supply Company operated 23 trams, including some that had been converted from old Sydney cable trams. * Number 12 (1892–1905) – BTM being restored. * Number 21 (1913) – BTM in storage in very poor condition. * Number 22 (1913) – BTM restoration commenced, but now in storage. * Number 23 (1913) – converted as scrubber 1934, static display TMSV.

SECV

The SECV purchased a large number of old trams from Melbourne, Port Adelaide, and Adelaide, which were then used in Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat. Tram No. 37 was used in Melbourne, Geelong, and Bendigo before being moved to Ballarat in 1960. * Number 11 (1915) – BTM in storage * Number 12 (1915) – in service

Sydney Tramway Museum The Sydney Tramway Museum (operated by the South Pacific Electric Railway) is Australia's oldest tramway museum and the largest in the southern hemisphere. It is located at Loftus, New South Wales, Loftus in the southern suburbs of Sydney. Hist ...

(STM),

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

* Number 13 (1915) – in service BTM * Number 14 (1915) – in service BTM * Number 17 (1915) – in service

Tramway Museum Society of Victoria The Tramway Museum Society of Victoria Incorporated (TMSV) owns a large collection of trams from Melbourne, Ballarat, Geelong, Adelaide, and Sydney as well as preserved buses and other work vehicles. History The TMSV was founded in 1962 with ...

(TMSV), at Bylands, Victoria * Number 18 (1913) – in service BTM * Number 19 (1915) – in service

Bendigo Trust Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

(BT) * Number 20 (1918) - scrapped 1970 * Number 21 (1909) – in service

Tramway Museum, St Kilda The Tramway Museum, St Kilda is Australia's principal museum of the 19th and 20th century trams of Adelaide, South Australia. It is situated at St Kilda, north of the centre of Adelaide. It is operated by the Australian Electric Transport Mus ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

(TMSK) * Number 25 (1916) – in service, BT * Number 26 (1916) – in service BTM * Number 27 (1916) – in service BTM * Number 28 (1916) – in service BTM * Number 30 (1917) – damaged in a fire, Oregon, USA. * Number 31 (1917) – in service Perth Electric Tramway Museum at

Whiteman Park Whiteman Park is a bushland area located north of Perth, Western Australia. The park is in the suburb of Whiteman, in the Swan Valley in the upper reaches of the Swan River. It encompasses the source of Bennett Brook - an important place o ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. (PETS) * Number 32 (1917) – BTM in storage * Number 33 (1917) – in service BTM * Number 34 (1917) – returned to BTM from TMSK and under restoration * Number 35 (1916) – BTM, used for spare parts * Number 36 (1917) – in service TMSV * Number 37 (1916) – in service STM * Number 38 (1914) – in service BTM * Number 39 (1914) – BTM, body used as static display area. * Number 40 (1913) – in service BTM * Number 41 (1914) – static, used as a restaurant,

Horsham, Victoria Horsham () is a regional city in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, Australia. Located on a bend in the Wimmera River, Horsham is approximately northwest of the state capital Melbourne. As of the 2021 Census, Horsham had a population of 2 ...

. * Number 42 (1914) – static display TMSV * Number 43 (1914) – static display TMSV

Ballarat Tramway Museum

As well as its collection of original Ballarat trams, the Ballarat Tramway Museum also has several Melbourne trams and an original Geelong tram:

Ex Melbourne Metropolitan Tramways Board

* No. 8W Scrubber (1935) - in service BTM * No. 504 W2 class (1928) - painted art tram by Clifton Pugh - BTM in storage * No. 661 W3 class (1932) – BTM in storage crash damaged * No. 671 W4 class (1934) – in service BTM * No. 924 SW6 class (1946) – BTM in storage * No. 939 SW6 class (1948) – converted to Melbourne Restaurant Tram 3 — modified to BTM function tram "Cuthberts 939" * No. 1029 W7 class (1956) – BTM under restoration * No. 1039 W7 class (1956) - BTM in storage

Ex Melbourne Electric Supply Company (later SECV) - Geelong Tramway

* Number 2 (1912–1956) – in service BTM for special occasions

Cycling controversy

A section of track at Wendouree Parade has caused controversy since 2011 due to a notorious blackspot for cyclists—a curved track intersection emerging from the Tramway Museum depot. Several local cyclists who have been injured due to their bicycle wheels slipping on the track have called for a solution. The City of Ballarat spent more than $15,000 in 2011 investigating solutions, with limited success.Ballarat tram tracks: council to trial solutions. The Courier. 23 Mar 2011 In November 2014 the council carried out extensive roadworks at the intersection. The tram tracks were left in place, but the road was realigned 12 metres west. This changes the angle at which bicycles cross the track and should make it safer. The roadwork was completed on 23 December 2014 and cost $420,000.

References

{{TramsAustralia History of Ballarat