History
The origins of route 1 lie in separate tram lines, a cable tram from Collins Street to South Melbourne Beach, a cable tram along Swanston Street and St Kilda Road, an electric line from Queensberry Street to East Coburg and a section of track between Clarendon Street and St Kilda Road.
Cable trams first travelled from Queensberry Street, Carlton to Milton Street, Balaclava, on 11 October 1888, with the line opened by the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company.
A cable tram between Collins Street and South Melbourne Beach, travelling Market Street, Queens Bridge Street, City Road, Clarendon Street, Park Street, Montague Street, Bridport Street and Victoria Avenue was opened on 17 June 1890, by the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company.
The Melbourne, Brunswick and Coburg Tramways Trust started building its tramway system in June 1914, on 31 October 1916 East Coburg was connected to Melbourne at Queensberry Street along Nicholson Street, Holmes Street, Lygon Street, Elgin Street and Madeline Street - as the section of Swanston Street north of Victoria Street was originally known.
The Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board constructed a track connecting Clarendon Street and St Kilda Road along Sturt Street, Eastern Road, Heather Street and Park Street, which opened on 31 October 1925.
The Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board converted the Swanston Street/St Kilda Road cable line to electric traction between 1924 and 1926, with electric trams able to run the entire length on 29 August 1926.
The Market Street cable lines were mainly converted - the Port Melbourne cable tram line, including the Hanna Street (now Kings Way) to Clarendon Street section of City Road was abandoned in favour of buses - to electric traction by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board, with the first service to South Melbourne Beach on 25 July 1937.
As part of the City Road and St Kilda Road separation project, the northern most section of track along Sturt Street was relocated to Nolan Street (now Southbank Boulevard) on 16 March 1970.
Read more about this topic: Melbourne Tram Route 1
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