Railways and Tramways of Australia

Farewell to trams

 

The Sydney tramway system closed on 25 February 1961.

 

Tramways in Sydney spanned almost a century. A horse tramway along Pitt Street in Sydney opened December 1861 but it proved to be unpopular and closed at the end of 1866. Sydney introduced trams again in 1879, this time using steam trams. They were successful, and lines were extended through many suburbs.

 

Electric tramways commenced in Sydney in 1890, and eventually most of Sydney’s tramways were electrified. The Sydney tramway system was very extensive, and was one of the largest tramway networks in the world, reaching 181.25 miles (291.7 km) of tram lines open in January 1923. In 1944–45 a record 404,630,000 passenger journeys were recorded.

 

Most Australian tramway systems were closed in the 1950s and 1960s when motor cars and buses became more favourable. In Sydney, various lines through the city and suburbs were closed in stages from 1957 to 1961.

 

The last day of services brought many people out to farewell the trams. Tramcars 1961, 2035 and 1995 departed from Hunter Street terminus on the final outwards journey from the city. They were joined later by 1963 in the lead, forming a convoy of four trams for the last run to La Perouse. Each tram was overcrowded with passengers.

 

After departing from the La Perouse terminus at 3.35 pm, the trams proceeded to Moore Park, where passengers alighted for the last time. They then continued empty to Randwick Workshops. At 4.26 pm R1 Class tram 1995 passed through the workshop gates, being the last tram to operate in Sydney’s streets. It is now preserved at the Tramsheds precinct in the former Rozelle tram depot.

 

A century after their service began, it was farewell to Sydney’s trams.

 

Bibliography

‘Farewell Sydney trams’, Electric Traction, vol. 16, no. 4, April 1961, pp 3–8.

DR Keenan, Tramways of Sydney, Transit Press, Sydney, 1979.