Number of accessible trams stops to rise across Melbourne's tram network
Spring Street has announced a new wave of tram stop upgrades which will see $19 million spent on upgrading stops in both the north and south of the city's network.
6 stops between Victoria Parade and Kerr Street along Nicholson Street in Carlton/Fitzroy will be upgraded with centre island platforms. The #96 East Brunswick - St Kilda Beach route is now 100% operated by low-floor E-class trams.
Special attention will be given to the tram stop opposite Melbourne Museum and the Royal Exhibition building to enable all passengers between the stop and the Carlton Gardens safely and easily.
The Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan said that Melbourne had a fleet of 163 low floor trams and "more than 420 raised stops on the network and we will continue to introduce new trams and stops to make our network more accessible ." Work on the northern section of the #96 route will begin later in the year.
From mid-2019 onwards works to improve interchange between trains at Flagstaff station and William / La Trobe street trams will kick off and the William Street stops at the corner of Bourke & William Street will be upgrade to match the accessible stops in Bourke Street.
The #58 West Coburg - Toorak route runs past the Royal Children's, Royal Women's and Royal Melbourne Hospitals and began seeing D-class low-floor trams operate some services in 2017. The older Z-Class and B-Class non-low floor trams, also operate on the #58.
Balaclava station will also see new accessible stops created on Carlisle Street to improve accessibility at the interchange with the #3 tram and Sandringham line trains and the Bundoora RMIT stop on the #86 will also be upgraded.
According to a Spring Street media release, 63 next generation low-floor E-Class trams are now operating on the network with another 17 to be manufactured at Bombardier's facility in Dandenong.
The State Government has also announced the free tram zone's geographic reach will be extended temporarily to help with moving people to major events while various construction blitzs are underway.
On the weekends from the 2nd of June to the 17th of June, while the construction blitz previously announced for the Dandenong line is underway, the free tram zone will be extended to the various stops on Wellington Parade adjacent to the MCG.
Buses will be replacing trains between Caulfield and Westall as works on the level crossing removal projects in the area are finalised. Caulfield junction will see major signalling work completed during the shutdown period.
The entire Gippsland V/Line train service will be replaced with Coaches.
The temporary extension will be in operation for the NRL State of Origin match to be played on Wednesday 6th of June and the Queen's birthday match of Collingwood and Melbourne at the MCG.
The State Government has rolled out a new website where users can enter their postcode and be provided with a map & summary of all transport network disruptions.
See bigbuild.vic.gov.au for more information.
