Melbourne tram route 12

Melbourne tram route 12 is operated by Yarra Trams on the Melbourne tram network from Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre to St Kilda. The 16.2 kilometre is operated out of Southbank depot with A class trams.

Route 12
A class tram on Spencer Street in July 2017
Overview
System	Melbourne
Operator	Yarra Trams
Depot	Southbank
Vehicle	A Class
Began service	27 January 2014
Route
Start	Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre
Via	Victoria Street Collins Street South Melbourne
End	St Kilda
Length	16.2 kilometres
Timetable	Route 12 timetable
Map	Route 12 map
Route map {{{map}}} ← Route 11  {{{system_nav}}}  Route 16 →

History

The origins of route 12 lie in several separate tram lines, including electrified 19th century cable tram lines and new track through South Melbourne constructed in the 1930.

The oldest section of track along Spencer Street between Collins Street and Flinders Street was part of Richmond cable tram line (Melbourne's first ever cable tram line), which opened on 11 November 1885 (and was electrified on 14 July 1927). The following year, Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company opened the North Fitzroy Line along Collins Street between Spencer Street (Stop 1) and St Vincent's Plaza (Stop 12) on 2 October 1886. It was electrified on 8 December 1929.^[1] The line east of St Vincent's Plaza along Victoria Street opened later that year as the Victoria Bridge line on 22 November 1886. This section was electrified on 15 September 1929.

Meanwhile, the southern section was created in many stages. It began with the South Melbourne cable tram line to South Melbourne Beach that came from Queensbridge Street and City Road, then ran along the Clarendon Street section of today's route 12 between City Road (Stop 126) and Park Street (South Melbourne, Stop 129), and then followed today's route 1 to South Melbourne beach, which was first opened on 17 June 1890. Next, an electric line between Park Street (South Melbourne) and St Kilda Beach (Fitzroy Street) was constructed by the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board, opening on 31 October 1925, with services running from Swanston Street to St Kilda Beach (Fitzroy Street) as routes 1 and 2.^[1] When the South Melbourne cable tram line was electrified on 25 July 1937, the section along Clarendon Street was electrified, and a new section extending along Clarendon Street up to Spencer Street was built, connecting Collins Street services which could now run through to South Melbourne or St Kilda. Route 12 was allocated to the line between South Melbourne Beach and a crossover on Collins Street at Gisborne Street, East Melbourne. Trams heading southwards from the city from Collins Street along Clarendon Street initially turned right at Park Street to terminate at South Melbourne Beach, while trams from Swanston St turned left and terminated at St Kilda Beach. On 13 September 1953, this was amended so that both tram services ran through the intersection of Park and Clarendon Street instead of both turning, resulting in St Kilda Beach becoming the terminus of route 12.

The original terminus of the St Kilda Beach service along Park Street diverted at Mary Street (Stop 142) and turned left at Beaconsfield Parade to meet the tracks at Fitzroy Street one block south of the current terminus. The junction was double-tracked so that some services would run further towards Luna Park. However, this rarely eventuated. The Mary Street tracks were replaced by the current day terminus at Park Street on 13 November 1959.^[1]

The first ever use of the route number 12 was for a about a year for the West Preston to St Kilda Beach service from 21 November 1929. At the time the North Fitzroy cable tram was yet to be electrified, and so all Preston services ran west via Holden Street and then via Lygon Street to Swanston Street, rather than Collins Street, and then to the southern suburbs. Then, when the cable line from St Georges Road to Collins Street was electrified on 27 October 1930, and services used Collins Street, route 12 was left unallocated for several years. For a long time, some route 12 services would continue northwards towards West Preston via Brunswick Street under Route 10. Eventually, the elimination of shared depot routes on 30 April 1995 led to route 10 becoming discontinued.^[1]

On 3 July 1973, a siding was constructed at Brunswick Street (later St Vincent's Plaza), which enabled route 12 to terminate there instead of the busy crossover at Gisborne Street.^[1] Following the establishment of route 112 in April 2000, route 12 became a peak hour only service. However, the peak-hour service was deemed unnecessary for the low-density and affluent suburbs in which it ran and on 18 November 2002, route 12 was discontinued. It was then allocated as a short working for route 16 trams terminating at Malvern depot from 2004.^[2] On 27 July 2014, Yarra Tram's desire to discontinue all peak-hour services led to routes 24 and 112 being discontinued, and route 12 taking their place between Victoria Gardens and St Kilda.^[3]

Between 13 July and 7 November 2020, as part of a COVID-19 response plan to increase overall capacity in the city which introduced shuttle services of route 11, route 12 was diverted via La Trobe Street on a temporary basis to reduce congestion on Collins Street.^[4][5] The route also replaced route 30, which did not operate in this period. Route 12 returned to running along Collins Street on 8 November 2020.^[6] During the 2022 Australian Open between 17 January and 30 January 2022, route 12 was again temporarily diverted via La Trobe Street and replaced route 30.^[7]

Melbourne tram route 12 evolution

Dates	Route	Notes
During PMTT operation	Camberwell to St Kilda Road	via Burke and Malvern Roads
21 November 1929 - 26 October 1930	West Preston to St Kilda Beach	via Holden Street and South Melbourne
27 October 1930 - 24 July 1937	Unallocated
25 July 1937 - 11 September 1953	South Melbourne Beach to City (Gisborne Street)
12 September 1953 - 2 July 1973	St Kilda Beach to City (Gisborne Street)
3 July 1973 - 17 November 2002	St Kilda Beach to City (Brunswick Street)	Became peak-only following establishment of route 112 in April 2000
18 November 2002 - 17 October 2004	Unallocated
18 October 2004 - 26 July 2014	Kew (Cotham Road) to Malvern depot	Rarely used short working of route 16
27 July 2014 - onwards	Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre to St Kilda (Fitzroy Street)	Became full-time route following cessation of route 112 Diverted via La Trobe Street 13 July - 7 November 2020 and 17 January - 30 January 2022

Operation

Route 12 is operated out of Southbank depot with A class trams.^[3][8][9]

Route map

v t e Route 12
Victoria Gardens - St Kilda (Fitzroy Street) via Richmond, City & South Melbourne Free tram zone covers stops 124 to 8, fare zone 1 applies from stop 10 to 24, 143 to 124A
Suburb Street Stop No. Victoria Gardens Connections Richmond Victoria Street 24       Victoria Gardens   109 23   Leslie Street 22   McKay Street 21   Church Street   78     Church Street Tram 78    Balaclava   20   Lennox Street 19   North Richmond station           North Richmond station ●● East Melbourne Victoria Parade 18   Hoddle Street   Hoddle Street buses 16   Wellington Street 15   Smith Street 13     Lansdowne Street   St Vincent's Plaza Siding     Brunswick Street Tram 11      West Preston 12       St Vincent's Plaza     Victoria Parade Tram 30      Central Pier   Gisborne Street 11   Albert Street   Macarthur Street 10   Parliament station           Parliament station ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●       Spring Street Tram 48, City Circle Wellington Parade      Nicholson Street Melbourne CBD Collins Street 8       Spring Street   48, City Circle 7   101 Collins Street   605       Swanston Street Tram 1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, 72 St Kilda Road      Melbourne University 6   Town Hall   1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, 72       Elizabeth Street Tram 19, 57, 59 Flinders St station      North Melbourne 5   Elizabeth Street   19, 57, 59 3   William Street   58;   Queen Street buses       William Street Tram 58 Toorak      West Coburg 1   Southern Cross station   11, 48, 96     Southern Cross station ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●     Spencer Street Tram 96      Bourke Street         Collins Street Tram 11, 48      Victoria Harbour       Flinders Street Tram 70, 75, City Circle Russell Street      Docklands       Flinders Street Viaduct   Spencer Street 124   Batman Park   70, 75, City Circle Southbank Clarendon Street 124A       Casino/MCEC   96, 109     St Kilda/Port Melbourne Light Rail Tram 96, 109      Clarendon Street Junction South Melbourne Clarendon Street 126       City Road   234, 236 127   York Street 128   Dorcas Street 129   Park Street   1         Park Street Tram 1 East Coburg     South Melbourne Beach 130A   Raglan Street 130   Albert Road Albert Park Albert Road 131       Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre       St Kilda Light Rail Tram 96 (no connecting stop) St Kilda Beach      Clarendon Street Junction 132   Canterbury Road Middle Park Mills Street 133       Canterbury Road 134   Carter Street 135   Richardson Street   606 136   Danks Street     Albert Park Siding   Danks Street 137   Harold Street 138   Armstrong Street   606   Patterson Street 139   Langridge Street 140   Fraser Street St Kilda West Park Street 141   Cowderoy Street 142   Mary Street St Kilda Park Street 143   Fitzroy Street   3a, 16, 96;   606       Fitzroy Street Tram 3a, 16, 96 Melbourne University/Brunswick East     St Kilda Beach Suburb Street Stop No. St Kilda Connections
Note: Green denotes free tram zone

References

1. "Gunzel". www.classicaustraliantv.com. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
2. Yarra Trams
3. Route 12 Yarra Trams
4. Premier of Victoria 10 July 2020
5. Yarra Trams
6. Public Transport Victoria
7. Yarra Trams
8. Southbank Depot Vicsig
9. Yarra Trams

External links

  Media related to Melbourne tram route 12 at Wikimedia Commons