Add Category
Posted
Melbourne's tram services are among the slowest in the world, new figures have revealed.
Statistics from the network's operator Yarra Trams shows trams are sluggishly moving around Melbourne at an average speed of only 16 kilometres per hour, with the speed dropping to just 11kph in the CBD.
To put that in perspective, people walk at an average speed of 5kph and ride bicycles at 15.5kph.
Yarra Trams says the figures reflect the operational realities and challenges posed by the city's tram network.
Low speeds and long delays
The figures also show some tram services in the CBD have been delayed for up to two hours due to traffic jams and collisions.
Yarra Trams said the delays and low speeds were mainly due to the "unique nature" of the tram network.
About 75 per cent of the tram network operates on shared roads with other vehicles, meaning trams are often vulnerable to traffic accidents on the road.
Up to 17 per cent of journey time on Melbourne's trams is spent waiting at red lights, compared to just 2 to 5 per cent by international standards.
Yarra Trams spokesman Simon Murphy said the challenges facing the network would only get worse in the years ahead.
"Melbourne's tram network is unique, 75 per cent of the network is actually shared with other traffic on Melbourne's roads and that really presents challenges in terms of congestion, particularly as Melbourne grows, and that's going to continue to be a challenge as we go into the future," he said.
"Melbourne's tram network has grown up with the city and clearly during peak hour, speeds do drop, which is another challenge."
Mr Murphy said Yarra Trams was working with VicRoads to examine ways that speeds could be increased, in the hope that priority traffic lights for trams would be rolled out at the end of the year.
Part-time tram lane markings on Smith Street in Collingwood, in Melbourne's inner north-east, have also been trialled. Yarra Trams reported an improvement in the average journey time during morning peak of up to one minute.
"We are working on a trial for traffic light priority. There's some desktop work that's happening at the moment, some research into that and the aim is to have something on the out as soon as we can," Mr Murphy said.
"There are certainly some things that can be done to speed up the network in the short term, but there is some longer-term work that is also going on.
"If you look at the Gold Coast light rail, it's a very different network, but they have a higher separation from the roads and traffic light priority, which is certainly something we are looking at."
Trams 'getting even slower'
The Public Transport Users' Association's Tony Morton said the problem was getting worse.
"This is a long-standing problem with our trams and it's actually worse — we have done time studies and it has got markedly worse," he said.
"Other cities in the world that have trams actually have active measures that give their trams priorities and we just don't have that here."
"We should be recognising that we can move people very effectively with trams … so we should be encouraging that by making sure our traffic functions efficiently."
Yarra Trams claims that it runs the world's largest tram network, covering 250km of track.
In March 2017, there were 104 tram-to-vehicle collisions. That was the highest monthly number of collisions in at least eight years.
Topics: forms-of-government, state-parliament, transport, melbourne-3000, vic