First G-class tram delivered to Melbourne

In April 1992 the government of the State of Victoria, which owns the world’s largest tramway in the state capital, Melbourne, awarded Alstom a AUD 1.48bn contract to build 100 25m low-floor double-ended trams, and provide a new maintenance and stabling facility in the suburb of Mainston (with a link to line 82). Alstom beat a joint venture of UGL/CAF in winning the contract. The Alstom bid foresaw the creation of about 280 jobs in construction at their Dandenong factory (taken over from Bombardier) and at the maintenance facility. The 25m three-section trams are shorter than the previous E class (they were 33.5m) and will accommodate 150 passengers, with seating for 48. However they will carry more passengers than the high-floor Z, A and B class trams that they will replace. They are based on the Flexity design (also inherited from Bombardier) but with swivelling outer bogies. They are designed to reduce power consumption with batteries recharged by regenerative braking used for traction where possible. 

 

The batch of trams will be 7001-7100; 7002 was delivered to Maidstone on 12 September. Finishing and commissioning will take place there, followed by driver training. The new trams are unlikely to enter passenger service until the first quarter of 2026. The 250km Melbourne tramway operator Yarra Trams runs some 500 trams over 24 routes from eight depots and carries about 155M passengers annually. Yarra Trams is a joint venture of Transdev and John Holland.