Old tram tracks and stops can still be found around Brisbane, but the return of the once-popular transport system is unlikely.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Brisbane lord mayor Graham Quirk said while there was a “romance” around trams, streets would have to be closed to accommodate tracks and stations.
The recent Brisbane Times and BDA: The Committee for Brisbane Liveability Survey revealed there was a strong push for trams as the one feature of another city that respondents wanted in Brisbane.
Brisbane City Council ran trams between 1885 and 1969, running out to Toowong, along Ipswich Road towards Annerley and to Woolloongabba.
Selection of survey responses:
- “Trams rather than stinking polluting buses”
- “As in Melbourne, bring back Brisbane trams”
- “We have a map of what we used to have with the trams – just re-build it. It works”
- “Trams like Melbourne just so able to move around the city more easily”
- “Trams linking north and southside”
- “Trams – a reliable cheap way to travel”
- “Trams/ light rail – someone have the courage to make it happen!!”
- “Trams – always sorry we got rid of them”
- “The trams being put back in place up and running”
- “Trams – they had them when I was a kid growing up in Brisbane in the 60s”
- “Trams running in a circle around the city”
- “Melbourne tram without getting your heels stuck in the tracks!”
- “Trams. Bring them back. They need to be as widespread as buses, and connected to train stations"
Cr Quirk said he was aware of the push for the return for trams following the survey but said the transport system was “limiting”.
“The reality is, to do light rail you need a width of 7.5 metres for the tracks (and) you need a width of 14 metres for the stations – that’s both Gold Coast and Sydney light rail dimensions,” he said.
“That would close streets.
“For example, if you wanted to run one up Ann Street outside of City Hall it would completely close the street because you haven’t got that width.
“That applies to most of our inner-city streets where you would naturally want them to go.”
Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and the Gold Coast presently run trams in Australia.
