Melbourne cable tramway system

The Melbourne cable tramway system was a cable pulled tram public transport system in Melbourne, Australia, which operated between 1885 and 1940.

The first line, from Spencer Street to the end of Bridge Road Richmond via Flinders Street, was opened on 11 November 1885, and all planned lines were built by 1891, the last being the short Windsor-St Kilda Esplanade line, opened 17 October 1891. By then it had about 75 kilometres (47 mi) of double track (103.2 route km or 64.12 route miles) and 1,200 cars and trailers, on 15 routes radiating from the centre of Melbourne to neighbouring suburbs. It was one of the largest cable car systems in the world, comparable with those of San Francisco which had 23 lines, and Chicago which had 66.0 km of double track.

The system was the brainchild of Francis Boardman Clapp, an American emigrant who had arrived during the gold rushes of the 1850s, and established horse omnibus services in Melbourne in the 1870s. He was inspired by the first cable tram system, beginning in 1873 in San Francisco, and developed by Andrew Hallidie to cope with the steep hills that horse trams found difficult. Clapp's efforts led to the passing of the Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company Act 1883, which established the Melbourne Tramway Trust, consisting of representatives of the 12 local councils served by the proposed system, which bought land, laid the tracks, and built the cable winding power-houses. Clapp's Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company (MTOC) was granted an exclusive 30-year franchise arrangement with the Victorian Government, and operated and managed the services.

On the expiration of the MTOC's franchise in 1916, the cable tram network returned to the Victorian Government, and then passed to the government-owned Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) on 1 November 1919.

Although the first electric tram service was introduced in 1889, and ran for seven years between the outer Melbourne suburbs of Box Hill and Doncaster, the electric tram network did not seriously commence until 1906, when the Victorian Railways built an "Electric Street Railway" from St Kilda railway station to Brighton, and The North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Company built an electric tramway towards Essendon from the terminus of the cable system. From 1924 the cable tram lines were progressively converted to electric traction. The last Melbourne cable tram ran on 26 October 1940, on the Northcote to Bourke Street route. Three routes were converted to bus rather than electrified. The cable tram routes were generally folded into the existing electric routes, creating the basis for the system still in use today.

Most lines ran from the city straight out into the suburbs, though some then proceeded across town, such that some lines crossed each other, creating some choice of routes. The lines along St Kilda Road and Swanston Street crossed right through the city, and Windsor - St Kilda lines initially ran separately.

The Richmond line opened on 11 November 1885, and ran between Hawthorn Bridge, Richmond, and Spencer Street, City via Flinders Street. A horse tram also operated by the MTOC connected on the other side of the bridge into Hawthorn.

The line was converted to electric traction in stages. The line was at first truncated to Swanston Street on 15 May 1927, the rest of the line closing on 29 June 1927. The converted line between Swanston Street and Spencer Street opened on 14 July 1927. The section between Swanston Street and Simpson Street opened on 17 September 1927, and the rest of the line to Hawthorn Bridge opened later that year on 4 December, connecting with the Church Street line and the Burwood Road line, which were already in operation. This conversion enabled Mont Albert and East Kew trams to reach the city directly. The powerhouse was located on Bridge Road, at Hoddle Street, and has since been demolished to provide for a left-turn lane. The remains of the Richmond cable tram depot now form part of the Amora Hotel, near Hawthorn Bridge.