Melbourne has a smart fleet of over 500 trams - the largest in the southern hemisphere. There are two companies which operate the trams, these are 'Swanston Trams' and 'Yarra Trams'. In 1983 Melbourne integrated all its major forms of transport into the Melbourne Transit Authority - The Met. All trams were painted in a green and cream livery.

In the light of privatisation, November 2000 saw Swanston Trams being bought by the National Express Group of the U.K. - and is now introducing a new identity of blue, white and green - with the strap line 'Moving Melbourne'. At the same time Yarra Trams have also rebranded with an off-white, blue and green livery and pronounced fleet name. The fleets are made up of what are known locally as Ws, Zs, As and B classes.

Unfortunately at the time of filming (May 2001), the famous 'W' Class trams were all off the road due to brake problems, but we did manage to film some of them 'laid up' at Malvern Depot. However there is plenty of footage featuring other trams in service in central Melbourne and its suburbs, line-side and rides.

Sydney has recently introduced trams again to its streets. The system opened in August 1997 and is run by Connex. There is a 6.7 km line from the old tramway concourse at the Central Station to Lilyfield, next to the railway yards at Rozelle. We travel on the trams, and see the operations in the streets. So we hope you enjoy your visits to the southern hemisphere's largest tramway network and it's newest light rail system.

Produced by - Independent Transport Videos
Running time - 95 Minutes
DVD only