Melbourne tram route 72

Route 72
Route 72
	D1 class tram on Swanston Street, ; December 2014
Overview
System	Melbourne
Operator	Yarra Trams
Depot	Malvern
Vehicle	Z class; D1 class
Began service	1 November 1970
Route
Start	Melbourne University
Via	Swanston Street; St Kilda Road; Commercial Road; Malvern Road; Burke Road
End	Camberwell
Length	16.8 kilometres
Timetable	Route 72 timetable
Map	Route 72 map
Route map
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Melbourne tram route 72 is operated by Yarra Trams on the Melbourne tram network from Melbourne University to Camberwell. The 16.8 kilometre route is operated out of Malvern depot with Z and D class trams.

History

Route 72 was first allocated to the line between Camberwell (Burke Road) and the City (Swanston Street) on 1 November 1970.^[1]^[2] Prior to that, the line to Camberwell was serviced by route 7. The change was at first due to operations of the Camberwell line being shifted from Malvern depot to Camberwell depot. Even though the route was subsequently returned to Malvern in August 1979, the number 72 was kept.^[2]^[3] Before 1970, Route 72 was a short-working of the Wattle Park line, for trams that terminated at Riversdale instead of Wattle Park.^[4] Trams traditionally terminated at the Victoria Street terminus, but following an accident in 1991, trams instead terminated at the Queensberry Street crossover. Due to congestion during peak hours at the crossover, some trams continued north to Melbourne University. Finally on 17 January 1996, a permanent shunt was built at Melbourne University. From then on, route 72 trams were altered run full-time to Melbourne University.^[4]

The origins of route 72 lie in separate tram lines. The section of track between Queensberry Street (Stop 4) and Commercial Road (Stop 25) is the oldest section of this route, dating back to the Brighton Road cable tram which opened on 11 October 1888 by the Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company. This cable tram line was electrified in stages by the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board. The section between Domain Interchange (Stop 20) and Commercial Road was electrified on 27 December 1925. The section between Queensberry Street and City Road (near Stop 14) was electrified on the same day. The line between City Road and Domain Interchange was electrified on 24 January 1926. The Prahran & Malvern Tramways Trust constructed the Malvern Road line between St Kilda Road and Gardiner (Stop 50) on 8 April 1915. This line was extended to Camberwell station (Stop 64) on 6 December 1917, and then to Cotham Road on 7 March 1918.

The route was curtailed for 21 months from March 1995 while a bridge was built over the Monash Freeway.^[5] In response to the State Government's Melbourne 2030 planning policy, the Public Transport Users Association lobbied to extend route 72 north to Doncaster Road and Ivanhoe station, and south to Caulfield.^[6]

Melbourne tram route 72 evolution
Dates	Route	Notes
9 December 1934 - 31 October 1970	Riversdale to City (Batman Avenue)
1 November 1970 - 14 April 1991	Camberwell to City (Swanston / Victoria Streets)	via Malvern / Burke Roads
15 April 1991 - 16 January 1996	Camberwell to City (Swanston / Queensberry Streets)	via Malvern / Burke Roads
17 January 1996 - onwards	Camberwell to Melbourne University	via Malvern / Burke Roads

Operation

Route 72 is operated out of Malvern depot with Z and D class trams.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Route map

Melbourne Tram Route 72

Melbourne University - Camberwell
via City, Malvern & Glen Iris
Free tram zone covers stops 8 to 13, fare zone 1 applies from stop 1 to 7, 14 to 70

Suburb

Street

Stop

No.

Melbourne University

Connections

continues as Tram 1 & 6

towards East Coburg & Moreland

Carlton

Swanston Street

1

Melbourne University

1, 3, 5, 6

16, 64, 67

;

401, 402

403, 546

3

Lincoln Square

4

Queensberry Street

Victoria Street

No Service

Melbourne CBD

Swanston Street

7

RMIT University

La Trobe Street

Tram 30, City Circle

Exhibition Street

Docklands Stadium

Melbourne Central station

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

8

Melbourne Central station

30, City Circle

10

Bourke Street Mall

86, 96;

Lonsdale Street

buses

Bourke Street

Tram 86, 96

Melbourne Museum

Southern Cross station

Collins Street

Tram 11, 12, 48, 109

St Vincent's Plaza

Southern Cross station

11

Collins Street

11, 12, 48, 109

Flinders Street

Tram 70, 75, City Circle

Russell Street

Docklands

Flinders Street station

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

13

Flinders Street station

70, 75, City Circle

Southbank

St Kilda Road

14

Arts Precinct

1;

216, 219

220

Southbank Boulevard

Tram 1

South Melbourne Beach

17

Grant Street - Police Memorial

19

Shrine of Remembrance

Park Street

Tram 58

West Coburg

Melbourne CBD

St Kilda Road

20

Anzac Station

58

Domain Road

No Service (Temporary Closure)

21

Bowen Crescent

22

Toorak Road

58

Toorak Road

Tram 58

Toorak

23

Arthur Street

24

Leopold Street

25

Commercial Road

3, 5, 6, 16

64, 67

;

216, 219

220

St Kilda Road

Tram 3, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67

St Kilda Junction

Commercial Road

26

Alfred Hospital

South Yarra

Commercial Road

27

Punt Road

246

28

Braille Library

29

Porter Street

Prahran station ●

30

Prahran Market

31

Chapel Street

78

Chapel Street

Tram 78

North Richmond

Balaclava

Malvern Road

32

Surrey Road

33

Francis Street

34

Williams Road

Toorak

Malvern Road

35

Mathoura Road

36

A'Beckett Street

37

Toorak station

220, 605

Toorak station ●●●

38

Clendon Road

39

Irving Road

40

Kooyong Road

41

Albany Road

42

Lauriston Girls' School

43

Glenferrie Road

Glenferrie Road

Tram 16

Kew

Melbourne University

Malvern

Malvern Road

44

Plant Street

45

Elizabeth Street

46

Meredith Street

Glen Iris

Malvern Road

47

Tooranga Road

624

48

Edgar Street

49

Kenilworth Grove

50

Burke Road

Gardiner station ●

Burke Road

51

Gardiner station

52

Harris Avenue

Camberwell station

Burke Road

53

Faircroft Avenue

54

Toorak Road

55

Middle Road

56

Anderson Road

57

Pine Avenue

58

Leura Grove

59

Seymour Grove

61

Riversdale Road

70, 75

Riversdale Road

Tram 70, 75

Docklands

Camberwell Junction

62

Camberwell Shopping Centre

63

Prospect Hill Road

Camberwell station ●●●

64

Camberwell station

65

Victoria Road

Canterbury

Burke Road

66

Rathmines Road

67

Camberwell Girls Grammar School

Kew

Burke Road

68

Mont Albert Road

69

Sackville Street

70

Cotham Road

109,

548

Cotham Road

Tram 109

Port Melbourne

Box Hill

Suburb

Street

Stop

No.

Camberwell

Connections

References

^ Melbourne Electric Traction November 1970 page 4
^ ^a ^b The Camberwell Tramway Transit Australia November 1998 pages 243-248
^ City Section Trolley Wire issue 183 August 1979 page 19
^ ^a ^b "Gunzel". www.classicaustraliantv.com. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
^ Route 72 Resumes Full Operation Transit Australia February 1997 page 45
^ The Real Transport Challenges: A Call for a Vision Public Transport Users Association October 2006 page 56
^ Malvern Depot Vicsig
^ Facts & figures Yarra Trams
^ Route 72 Yarra Trams