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Photos from ten years ago

Old photos from October 2009

Here’s another in my series of old photos out of the vault from ten years ago.

We went to Bendigo for a couple of days, so here are a couple of snaps from that trip.

Bendigo bus to Kangaroo Flat
Tram museum, Bendigo

The only time I saw Powderfinger live was this “surprise” gig in Federation Square. (A surprise except a lot of people seemed to know they were coming.)

Powderfinger live in Federation Square, 2nd October 2009

I must have been checking out the then-new bus turnaround at the western end of Lonsdale Street. Much of the area has since been redeveloped, including The Age building at left.

Lonsdale Street bus turnaround, October 2009

Remember these? Back when you could buy a tram ticket on a tram.

Metcard vending machine on a tram, October 2009

Yes, trams used to get crowded before the Free Tram Zone was instituted. But most of the trams are bigger now, and more frequent, and more crowded. (They also take about the same amount of time to get across the CBD, sometimes a little longer, according to timetables.)

Busy tram, Bourke Street

Collins Place. Basically unchanged from this angle.

Collins Place, Melbourne, October 2009

By Daniel Bowen

Transport blogger / campaigner and spokesperson for the Public Transport Users Association / professional geek.
Bunurong land, Melbourne, Australia.
Opinions on this blog are all mine.

3 replies on “Old photos from October 2009”

You state that trams in the CBD are more frequent since the Free Tram Zone. Is that true in Bourke Street? My subjective impression is that the frequency has dropped off over the years, although of course capacity has presumably been maintained (or increased?) with the larger trams.

@gxh, good question!

On Bourke Street, I believe the 86/96 frequency is the same (about every 7-8 minutes each) but more 86a extras run (superseding route 95). Unfortunately they’re not in the timetable so I can’t verify it. What we do have now is mostly E-class trams, about 10 metres longer than the B-class they replaced (though I think slightly less usable space for passengers) – providing greater capacity.

On Collins Street there are now more trams than 10 years ago, because route 112 got split into the 11 and 12, and route 48 got moved to Collins St from Flinders St. In addition, route 11 now runs mostly B and E-class trams, so a lot more capacity than the old A-class.

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