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 me ...

, 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 Public-benefit nonprofit corporation, statutory authority formed under the Transport Act 1983 which operated passenger and freight trains, trams and bus services. The ...

, 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 taking over until negotiations were concluded for Yarra Trams to take over in April 2004.

History

On 1 October 1997 in preparation for privatisation, the

's tram operations were split into two business units, Swanston Trams and Yarra Trams.

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. KPMG 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 (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 and

William William is a masculine given name of Norman French 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 conq ...

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, Glenhuntly and Malvern. Part of the franchise agreement required replacement of older rolling stock with newer models, and refurbishment of the existing rolling stock. Siemens Combino 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