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 the Victorian Government, is the Executive (government), executive government of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. As a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutiona ...

owned corporate body that operated suburban passenger trains, trams and buses in Victoria, Australia. It was set up under Section 15 of the Transport Act 1983 and commenced operation on 1 July 1983. It was a statutory body set up to manage the

trams A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

and

buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

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 be ...

, the metropolitan train operations of the former VicRail, and the operations of the former Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority. 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 ...

. 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, Pagan and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with f ...

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 by the combination of a number of operators who served route 1 Gardenvale, Victoria, Gardenvale to Melbo ...

with 37 buses. A single Harris 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 founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...

and refurbished Harris 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, also referred to as vertical consolidation, is an arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each ...

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

(PTC). The PTC was privatised in stages in the 1990s. In December 1993, the Doncaster East and North Fitzroy bus depots were taken over by the National Bus Company. The remaining bus operations out of Footscray and

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places Australia * Sandringham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Sandringham, Queensland, a rural locality * Sandringham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station * ...

depots were taken over by Melbourne Bus Link 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 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 ...

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

National Express Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express. Th ...

June 1999

References

External links

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