Second Melbourne tram joins San Francisco’s historic streetcar fleet
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8 October 2009
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One of Melbourne’s iconic W-Class trams was presented to San Francisco as a gift to run on the city’s heritage streetcar service.
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The tram was welcomed to its new home on 7 October at a ceremony held near the San Francisco Railway Museum where the Premier of Victoria, John Brumby took a ride on the tram.
“San Francisco, just like Melbourne, is a city connected by its tram and light-rail services catering for commuters and tourists,” Mr Brumby said.
“I am delighted that this tram has found a new and very welcome home here,” He said
The tram will run on the popular F Line along with another Victorian W-Class tram. The trams are expected to operate on the line for at least three years.
Victoria donated its first W-Class to San Francisco in 1983 for the Historic Trolley Festival which resulted in the F Line being constructed. The line now carries almost 9 million commuters annually and is the busiest transit line in the USA.
San Francisco has been collecting a fleet of historic streetcars, trolleys and trams from around the world which provide a colourful service on the F-Market and Wharves route. Market Street Railway is a voluntary organisation that maintains and preserves the fleet in partnership with the San Francisco Municipal Transport Agency who own the fleet and F Line.
The new addition, tram number 916, first entered service in Melbourne in the 1950s and tram no. 496 was built in 1929. Mr Brumby said both W-Class trams would be used to highlight the tourist attractions of Victoria and Melbourne and would prove to be a moving billboard for the state. They have already been used for promotional activities such as the recent G’Day USA 2009 show.
In Melbourne, 53 W-Class trams run across the metropolitan network including on the popular City Circle tourist line and Routes 78/79 from North Melbourne to Prahran and St Kilda Beach and the inner city Route 30 along Latrobe Street.
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