Corporate Body

Melbourne Tramways Trust (1883 - 1916)

From
1883
Melbourne elbourne, Victoria, Australia
To
1916
Functions
Transport

Summary

The Melbourne Tramways Trust was established under the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Act of 1883 as the enabling authority for the construction and operation of Melbourne's cable tram network. It was also intended to represent the interests of the municipalities through which the tram lines were to be constructed. These were Melbourne (seven members on the Trust), Prahran, Richmond, Fitzroy, Collingwood, South Melbourne, Hotham, St Kilda, Brunswick, Port Melbourne, Hawthorn and Kew (one member each). The Trust appointed George Duncan as Engineer to undertake the design and construction. At completion in 1891 the network was the largest in the world operated by a single company. Under the provisions of the Act the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company was authorised to operate the network under license until 30 June 1916, while the tramways were the property of the various municipalities. On the expiry of the lease, ownership reverted to the Trust. The interim Tramway Board was established to assume responsibility for the assets and liabilities of the Trust on its dissolution in March 1916. The last cable tramroute closed in 1940.

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Published resources

Books

  • Cranston, Jack, The Melbourne cable trams 1885-1940 (Melbourne, Vic.: Craftsman Publishing, 1988), 132 pp. Details

Conference Papers

  • Pierce, Miles, 'Cable trams in Melbourne - a major nineteenth century engineering achievement', in 19th Australasian engineering heritage conference: putting water to work: steam power, river navigation and water supply edited by Engineers Australia and Engineering Heritage Australia (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Engineering Heritage Australia, 2017), pp. 431-453., https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.385266704741264. Details

Journal Articles

  • Pierce, Miles, 'Melbourne's cable trams - a major nineteenth century engineering achievement', International journal of the history of engineering and technology, 89 (1/2) (2020), 188-215. https://doi.org/10.1080/17581206.2019.16. Details

Helen Cohn

Created: 13 September 2022, Last modified: 15 September 2022

EOAS ID: biogs/P007087b.htm

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