Fwd: [TramsDownUnder] Re: Melbourne vs Sydney

From:	David McLoughlin <mcloughlin.dj@gmail.com>

Tony P wrote:

>  Vermont South and Bundoora trips are well over the hour, whereas the longest trips in Sydney were probably Ryde at 1 hour and La Perouse at 50 minutes.  Ironically, Melbourne had a much more comprehensive suburban train system than Sydney, but those long tram lines slipped through the net. 

They didn't slip through any net, they were built Iin stages) long after the railway lines reached the extent you cite -- 2005  for the 75 and 1995 for the 86.  They were not built for people to take a long tram ride to the city, but for local transport.  A lot of Melbourne tram traffic is between places along the route. There are major shopping centres and education institutes along both the 86 and 75, major traffic generators. The Box Hill extension is another good example.  Box Hill has one of the city's busiest train stations, but the tram was extended there in 2003.  The main reason was to carry local traffic from Kew to Box Hill along Cotham/Whitehorse Road, not to compete with the train at Box Hill for city journeys. 

David McL, brought up in Box Hill long before the tram arrived.