Melbourne tram route 109

Box Hill - Port Melbourne

Route Information
Route Number	109
Number of stops	62
Timetables	Link
Route Map	Link
Zone Location
Zone 1
109 Light Rail (Station Pier) - Whitehorse Road (Balwyn Road)
Zone 1 & 2
Whitehorse Road (Balwyn Road - Market Street)

Tram route 109 or simply The 109 is a public transport service in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs between a terminus in Box Hill and a terminus near Station Pier in Port Melbourne. The route runs along a light rail track between Port Melbourne and Southbank, using the Sandridge railway right-of-way, the first railway line in Australia, which was converted in 1987.

Unlike most tram routes in Melbourne, it falls within Metcard/myki ticketing Zone 1 and Zone 1/2.

At Box Hill, it is integrated with various train routes at Box Hill railway station, as well as many bus routes that pass through Centro Box Hill shopping centre.

History

The origins of route 109 lie in separate tram lines, a cable tram from Spencer Street to the Yarra River, a horse tram from the Yarra River to Kew Cemetery, an electric line from Kew Junction to Box Hill (extended over the years) and the Port Melbourne railway line.

A cable line was opened from Spencer Street to Brunswick Street along Collins Street, MacArthur Street, Gisborne Street and Victoria Parade on the 2 October 1886,^[1] by the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company, and later extended to the west side of the Yarra River along Victoria Parade and Victoria Street on 22 November 1886.^[1] A connecting horse tram was build from the east side of the Yarra River to Kew Cemetery along Barkers Road, High Street South and High Street, opening on 28 December 1887.

The Prahran and Malvern Tramways Trust opened a line from High Street to Burke Road along Cotham Road on 30 May 1913.^[2] On 1 November 1914 the Prahran and Malvern Tramways Trust received permission to convert the horse tram line to electric traction, the new electric line was opened on 24 February 1915.^[2] The Prahran and Malvern Tramways Trust extended the Cotham Road line to Union Road, Mont Albert along Whitehorse Road, on 30 September 1916.^[2]

In 1929 the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board started converting the Collins Street cable lines to electric traction, with the last cable tram running down Collins Street on 14 September 1929, and the first electric tram on 8 December 1929.^[3] At the same time the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board built a new electric line down the centre of Victoria Parade to replace the cable line, which opened on 15 September 1929.^[3]

The line was extended south west to Port Melbourne along Spencer St and the former Port Melbourne Railway on 21 December 1987 following the conversion of the Railway (along with the St Kilda Line) to light rail.^[4] The broad gauge 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) track was re-gauged to standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) and the overhead voltage was reduced from 1500V DC to 600V DC with light rail platforms built adjacent to or near the former stations platforms.

It was extended from its terminus in Mont Albert to Box Hill along Whitehorse Road, about 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi), at the cost of $28 million, on 2 June 2003. ^[5]

Route

Route 109
Box Hill Box Hill Station Stop 58 Nelson Rd 57 Elgar Rd 56 Union Rd 53 Balwyn 47 Burke Rd Route 72 42 Glenferrie Rd Route 16 36 Kew Junction Routes 24, 48 32 Kew Barkers Rd Route 48 29 Burnley St 24 Church St Routes 78, 79 21 North Richmond Station North Richmond Station 19 Hoddle St 18 East Melbourne Smith St 15 St Vincent's Plaza Routes 24, 30, 112 12 Parliament Parliament Station Routes 48, City Circle 8 City Swanston St Routes 1, 3/3a, 5, 6, 8, 16, 64, 67, 72 6 Elizabeth St Routes 19, 57, 59 5 William St Route 55 3 Spencer St Southern Cross Station Routes 48, 75, 96 1 Batman Park Routes 70,		Casino Route 112	124a
		Port Junction Route 96	125
		South Melbourne
		North Port	127
		Port Melbourne	129

Not all stops are shown, refer to timetable for full list of stops.

C class tram on route 109 at St Vincent's Plaza

Melbourne Tram Route 109 at the Port Melbourne terminus. The Port Melbourne railway station building is visible in the foreground.

Route 109 runs from Box Hill, travelling west on Whitehorse Road traversing the suburbs of Mont Albert, Surrey Hills, Balwyn and Deepdene. Entering Kew at Burke Road, Whitehorse Road becomes Cotham Road. It continues west, through Kew Junction and then south west along High Street, High Street South and turns west into Barkers Road.

It Crosses the Yarra River into Victoria Street Richmond and continues west, at Hoddle Street Victoria Street becomes Victoria Parade, East Melbourne, it passes through St Vincent's Plaza, passing St Vincent's Hospital, Eye and Ear Hospital and turns south onto Gisborne Street, continues south west along MacArthur Street and turns west into Collins Street, entering the CBD, passing Melbourne Town Hall and City Square.

It turns south into Spencer Street, passing Southern Cross Station, it crosses the Yarra River and enters Southbank on Clarendon Street before traversing the suburbs of South Melbourne and Port Melbourne on a right-of-way - the former Port Melbourne railway line - and terminates at Port Melbourne railway station, near Station Pier.

Operation

Route 109 is run from Kew depot^[6] and is predominantly run with C class trams.

Maps and timetables

• Official timetable
• Official route map
• Official tram network map
• Melbourne tram and train network map from railmaps.com.au

See also

• Port Melbourne railway line
• Trams in Melbourne
• Transportation in Australia

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company Limited", TMSV Running Journal Vol 9 No 3, page 16, http://www.tramway.org.au/runningjournal/rj_vol9_no3.pdf, retrieved 2011-10-16 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Milestones, 1911 - 1920", Yarra Trams, http://www.yarratrams.com.au/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-155/173_read-883/, retrieved 2011-10-09 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Milestones, 1921 - 1930", Yarra Trams, http://www.yarratrams.com.au/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-155/173_read-882/, retrieved 2011-10-09 
4. ^ "Milestones, 1981 - 1990", Yarra Trams, http://www.yarratrams.com.au/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-155/173_read-876, retrieved 2011-09-26 
5. ^ "Box Hill Extension Opening". Yarra Trams. 2003-02-05. http://www.yarratrams.com.au/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-105/99_read-196. Retrieved 2011-10-09. 
6. ^ "Kew Depot", VICSIG, http://www.vicsig.net/index.php?page=trams&depot=kew, retrieved 2011-10-09