Best added that there was no information telling visitors the City Circle service was not running. “We would have been waiting here all day,” he said.
Public Transport Victoria’s website and app advised travellers on Thursday the City Circle service was operating every 15 minutes. Yarra Trams’ website and the TramTracker app both advised the next service was on Monday morning.
Since last Monday,The Agehas tracked City Circle service frequency on six different days. There were waits of an hour between trams on three days,55-minute waits on two days,and 30-minute waits on one day.
A Yarra Trams spokesperson said it reduced City Circle services during major events,so it had drivers available to operate more trams to venues like the MCG.
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“We always work to provide a regular service on our iconic W-class trams,however,some City Circle trips may be reduced or cancelled on any given day due to driver availability and special events,” they said.
Yarra Trams cancelled a quarter of its scheduled City Circle services in February,the spokesperson said. Network-wide,Yarra Trams has a service reliability target of 98.5 per cent.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transport and Planning confirmed that it sometimes approved requests from Yarra Trams to operate the City Circle at reduced frequency to free up drivers.
“We are working with Yarra Trams to continually improve performance on the City Circle service,” they said.
Rail Tram and Bus Union tram division secretary Tarik Koc said Yarra Trams was moving the small number of drivers trained to operate the W-class onto other routes amid a driver shortage.
“Why aren’t people receiving the services they deserve,and they[Yarra Trams] are getting paid for?” he said. “This has been going on for a very long time.”
Victoria started tophase out the last of the W-class trams operating on regular commuter services (routes 78 and 79) in 2009 to replace them with newer trams.
The National Trust listed W-class trams in its register as being of state,national and international significance and worth of protection in 1998,describing them as “distinctly Australasian” and “the predominant Melbourne icon”.
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“The National Trust of Victoria is encouraged to see that these trams are still running and
would be disappointed to see any further reductions to the trams scheduling,” National Trust of Victoria’s CEO Simon Ambrose said on Thursday.
The Yarra Trams contract also says it must have at least four tour guides on duty across the City Circle service at all times. The contract says the service should run until 9pm on Thursdays,Fridays and Saturdays,but it does not appear to have operated past 6pm since it was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
Two 70-year-old W-class trams that operated as the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant were retired in 2018 because theydid not meet modern safety standards.
Keolis Downer has operated Yarra Trams since 2009. Its current contractexpires on December 1 next year,and the state government confirmed last week it would soon put it out to tender. Keolis Downer said it would bid for the new contract.
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