Camberwell tram depot is located on Council Street,

Hawthorn East Hawthorn East is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Hawthorn East recorded a population of 14,834 at the 2021 census. The ...

, a suburb of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Opened in December 1929, it is operated by

Yarra Trams Yarra Trams is the trading name of the operator of the Trams in Melbourne, tram network in Melbourne, Australia, which is owned by VicTrack and leased to Yarra Trams by the Victoria State Government, Victorian Department of Transport and Planni ...

. It is one of eight tram depots on the Melbourne tram network.

History

The electric tram line from Batman Avenue in the city to

Warrigal Road Warrigal Road is a major inner urban road in southeastern Melbourne, Australia. On weekdays, it is heavily trafficked as it runs through many major suburbs along its route, traversing some of Melbourne's eastern and south-eastern suburbs. These ...

(then Boundary Road) along Riversdale Road opened in 1917, built by the

Hawthorn Tramways Trust The Hawthorn Tramways Trust was a tram operator in Melbourne, Australia. Its assets and liabilities were transferred to the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board on 2 February 1920. History The Hawthorn Tramways Trust (HTT) was formed pursuan ...

. 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 be ...

took over the line in 1920, and in 1928, extended the line a further two kilometres to Wattle Park. With the increase in suburban development and tram use, in July 1928, the Board approved the acquisition of a number of properties on Camberwell Road, west of Camberwell Junction, in preparation for the construction of a new tram depot. A tender for £31,990 to construct the depot was accepted on 1 November 1928 by the MMTB, with the depot opening in December 1929. It was designed by the Board's chief architect, Alan G Monsborough in a restrained Georgian style. The opening of Camberwell depot ushered in a multitude of operational changes in the eastern part of the tram network, including extended hours of tramway operation. The routes using the depot eventually became primarily the Route 70 and 75. Traffic lights were installed on Riversdale Road, at the entrance to Camberwell depot in 1948, to increase safety. The traffic lights were in response to a large number of near misses, and were activated by trams. When the

Public Transport Corporation The Public Transport Corporation (PTC) was a Victoria State Government owned Public-benefit nonprofit corporation, statutory authority formed under the Transport Act 1983 which operated passenger and freight trains, trams and bus services. The ...

was privatised in August 1999, Camberwell depot passed to

Layout

Camberwell tram depot has nine roads, all of which are covered by a single 115 foot single span roof. This is said to increase safety within the depot shed as there are no columns, while also providing better lighting. The depot shed is connected to Riversdale Road by a double track entrance. The staff facilities and offices are in an adjacent building.

Rolling stock

As of May 2024, the depot had an allocation of 60 trams: 4 A1-class, 18 A2-class and 38 B2-class.

Routes

The following routes are operated from Camberwell depot: *: Waterfront City Docklands to Wattle Park *: Central Pier Docklands to Vermont South

References

{{coord, -37.8302, 145.0548, region:AU-VIC, display=title Tram depots in Melbourne Transport infrastructure completed in 1929 1929 establishments in Australia Transport in the City of Boroondara Buildings and structures in the City of Boroondara