The refurbishment programme for Melbourne’s Yarra Trams fleet is underway, with the first completed vehicle to get back on the tracks this week.
Around 450 of Melbourne’s trams – up to 14 vehicles at a time – are to undergo reliability overhauls over the next five years at the recently upgraded East Preston Depot.
The refurbishment programme includes upgrades to the mechanical components, structural repairs to remove corrosion and protect against future damage, and deep cleaning of the trams’ interiors. Other upgrades will include repainting and, for some tram models, glass or window film replacement.
Victoria’s acting premier James Merlino said the programme will create over 100 jobs over a 5-year period.
“We’re supporting local jobs by improving Melbourne’s trams to give passengers a more comfortable and reliable service,” Merlino said.
“These refurbished trams are part of our record investment in Victoria’s transport system to get people where they need to go, sooner.”
The $230 million refurbishment programme is part of the new franchise agreement between the Government and Keolis Downer which came into effect in November last year. The 7-year contract is aimed at improving the reliability of Yarra Trams’ services, with a $30 million increase in annual spending on track and infrastructure maintenance and tougher penalties for missed performance targets (trams must run on time 82 per cent of the time per month, up from 77 per cent in the previous contract).
“Our tougher new contracts are aimed at giving passengers better value for money, better services, bigger penalties and more investment in maintenance,” Merlino said.
The refurbishment programme accompanies the continuing roll-out of new E-Class trams into the fleet. The current Labor Government initially ordered 20 of the trams in 2015, spending $274 million; funding for a further 10 were provided in the 2016/17 budget. These add to the 50 previously ordered by the former Brumby government (and currently in service), and will eventually bring the total number of E-Class trams in operation on the Melbourne network to 80 by the middle of 2019.