Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 14, 2007

Trams in Adelaide are represented by a single tram line connecting the central business district of Adelaide, South Australia, to the seaside suburb of Glenelg, and two classes of electric trams built in 1929 and 2006. Until 1958 this line was part of a network spanning most of suburban Adelaide, with origins dating back to 1878. Adelaide operated with horse trams from 1878 to 1914, electric trams from 1909 to 1958 and has primarily relied on buses for public transport since. Early use of trams was for recreation rather than solely daily travel, with entire families and tourists being transported. Until the 1950s trams were used for family outings so much that the Municipal Tramways Trust (MTT) constructed Kensington Gardens and extended the Kensington line to attract customers. By 1945 the MTT was collecting fares for 95 million trips annually, representing 295 trips per head of population. After the Great Depression maintenance of the tramway system and the purchase of new trams suffered. Competition by private buses, the MTT's own bus fleet and the growth of private car ownership all took patrons from the tram network. By the 1950s, the tram network was losing money and being replaced by an electric and petrol bus fleet. Adelaide's tram history is preserved by a volunteer run museum and tramway at St Kilda, and the continuing use of 1929 H Class trams on the remaining Glenelg tram line.