Just 12 W-class trams run on the City Circle route. Another 25 run along Chapel Street in South Yarra,Richmond's Church Street and on La Trobe Street in the city.
Nine weeks ago,Yarra Trams stopped running the W-class trams in South Yarra and Richmond on weekends,replacing them with newer models.
And 178 of the vintage trams are slowly deteriorating in the Government's Newport and Preston workshops.
Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky said that W-class trams were''an iconic symbol of Melbourne and part of our city's history'',and that the trams would continue to run on the City Circle route. The city's three restaurant trams will also continue to run. But eventually all other W-class trams would be removed as new trams arrived,Ms Kosky said.
''Some passengers,particularly the elderly,find them difficult to board and there are significant problems for disability access,''she said.
Under the current contract to run Melbourne's privatised tram system,53 W-class trams were to be in service.
The Government is next week expected to sign a contract to run the tram system for the next eight years with a consortium led by French firm Keolis. A spokesman for the consortium last night declined to comment on the fate of the W-class trams.