Low-floor trams are being shifted to service major hospitals in Parkville, the Victorian Government has announced.
From May, the accessible trams will run along Flemington Road and through Royal Park, as part of an amended timetable.
The new timetable includes the combination of routes 8 and 55 into route 58, which will run from Toorak through South Yarra to Domain, and then along William Street to Parkville and West Coburg.
Low-floor trams will travel past the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Royal Children’s Hospital, Royal Women’s Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Up to 10 low-floor trams will operate in the peak, providing frequent, reliable tram services for people in wheelchairs or scooters, and parents with prams, public transport minister Jacinta Allan said on March 28.
“Delivering low-floor trams to these hospitals will make it easier for people to get the care they need, enjoy a day out or visit the ones they love,” Allan said.
“It’s part of a broader change that will increase services and reduce crowding while we get on with the Metro Tunnel – which will create space for more trains, more often to the city and the suburbs.
“We’re improving services and building a better public transport network to get people home safer and sooner.”
The new timetable will extend route 6 from Melbourne University to Moreland, to replace route 8 services on Lygon Street.
Allan said the changes will deliver more trams to Prahran, Malvern and Glen Iris, while ensuring there is no reduction in services to Brunswick and Coburg.
They will also relieve pressure on the busiest tram corridor in the world by diverting route 8 off Swanston Street and down Kings Way to the west of the city, where extra trams are most needed, she explained.