Tram running on the line along Whitehorse Road in Box Hill, Victoria. Image © Darren Hodges

Trams and light rail are currently experiencing a resurgance in popularity in Australian cities, where they were once removed in favour of road based transport such as buses and cars. The exception to the rule is Melbourne, which was the only Australian capital not to remove their trams and related infrastructure.

Below is a list of dates showing when electric trams / light rail began operation and when they were eventually stopped, and then reinstated. Click on the town name for infomation and photos of rolling stock, signals and signs.

• Adelaide (SA): Adelaide developed Australia's first permanent and largest horse tram system. The network was 82 route kilometres. By 1883 there were eleven companies operating horse trams. The lines were taken over by the Municipal Tramways Trust (MTT) and electrified from 1908. The Glenelg line was the only one to survive, with all other lines closed by 22 November 1958. 1 An extension of the remaining line opened to the public on 14 October 2007, with further work continuing now to extend the network.
• Ballarat (Vic): In the tramway system opened. It was a horse system, which the Ballarat Tramway Company Limited started. There were 17 double and 1 single-decker horse trams, with around 50 horses. The tram system was taken over by the Electric Supply Company of Victoria, which electrified it in 1905. The system operated until 1971. 1
• Bendigo (Vic): In 1890 Bendigo installed battery trams, then in 1892, the town was served by a Steam tram system, which lasted until 1902. In 1903, the Electricity Supply Company of Victoria (a British company) introduced electric trams. The electric system was in operation as a general use service until 1972, before being sold to be run as a smaller scale tourist system. 1
• Brisbane (QLD): Brisbane established its first horse tram in 1885. Electric operation was introduced in 1897. By 1952, the network had expanded to 109 route kilometres, with 199 km of track. On 28th Sep 1962 the Paddington tram depot caught fire and burnt to the ground, destroying 65 trams. Final closure was in April 1969. 1
• Fremantle (WA): The system opened in October 1905, as an electric system. The number of passengers carried in 1930 was 6.27 million, in a town with the population of the area of about 30 000. The system was closed on 8 November 1952. 2
• Geelong (Vic): In 1912, electric trams begin operation in Geelong. Last service ran in 1956 3
• Hobart (Tas): Commencing in 1893, Hobart was the first city in the Southern Hemisphere to have a complete electric tramway service. It was also the only city in Australia to have double-deck trams in regular service. When the tramway ceased operations in 1960, the remaining tracks were ripped up or covered over. 4
• Kalgoorlie (WA): The tramways began operation in May 1902, and were eventually closed on 10 March 1952. 5
• Launceston (Tas): Trams first ran in Launceston in 1911, and operated until 1952. 6
• Leonora (WA): The town had a tramway, which was operated variously by steam, electric and petrol vehicles, between about 1901 and 1921. Its electric tram ran between Leonora and Gwalia, an adjacent town. Electric operation was between 1908 and 1915, when the power house burnt down. 1
• Melbourne (Vic): Melbourne's tram system began operations in 1885, when the first cable line operated by the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company opened for business. Australia's first electric tram line, from Box Hill Station to Doncaster, was built by a group of land developers using equipment left over from the Great Exhibition of 1888. It opened in 1889, but closed in 1896. The first serious electric trams in Melbourne began in 1906. Trams / light rail are still in operation to this day. 1
• Newcastle (NSW): The Newcastle Tram System began as a steam tram line, opening in 1887. Closure of the whole system occurred in 1950. 1
• Perth (WA): Track construction started on January 30, 1899, and services officially started on September 28 of that year. The final service ran on 19 July 1958. Some of the services were replaced by road buses but others were replaced by trolley buses. 7 The trolley bus system operated from 1933, and closed on 29 August 1969. The East Perth to Leederville station service, running via Wellington St and Cambridge St, was the first permanent trolleybus system in Australia. 8
• Sydney (NSW): Sydney's (and Australia's) first tram was a horse-drawn setup in Pitt St, running from the Railway station to Circular Quay in 1861. It closed in 1866. In 1879 a steam tramway was established. Electrification started in 1898, and most of the system was converted by 1910, however the Parramatta steam system remained in place until 1943. The Sydney tram system was Australia's largest, at 290 km, in 1933. The last Pitt St and Castlereigh St tram ran in 1957 on a Saturday night at 1 am. Within minutes of the tram's run the overhead wires were pulled down, and the next morning (a Sunday) the tracks were paved over, to ensure there would be no return of the trams. By 1958 the North Shore system was closed, and in 1961, 100 years after the first tram had run, the last line closed. 1 Metro Light Rail from the city to Sydney’s inner west, opened in August 1997 and was later extended in August 2000. 9

1 Trams of Australia, History
2 Perth Electric Tramway Society, Fremantle Tramways
3 The Story of Geelong, Norman Houghton
4 Hobart Municipal Tramways, A Brief History of the Hobart Tramways
5 Perth Electric Tramway Society, Kalgoorlie Tramways
6 Launceston Tramway Museum Society, The Launceston Tramway Network
7 Perth Electric Tramway Society, Perth Tramways
8 Perth Electric Tramway Society, Perth Trolleybuses
9 Metro Transport, About Us