History
The line opened as a cable tram line operated by the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company on 30 August 1887, operating along Bourke St and Nicholson St. It operated until 26 October 1940, when the Bourke St cable lines were abandoned by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board in favour of double decker buses. The Bourke St cable lines were the last cable trams to operate in Melbourne. Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board, unhappy with the performance of the buses wished to rebuilt the lines as electric tram services, it was decided to reinstate trams when the buses were life expired, trams on the 88 (predecessor to the modern 86) started on 26 June 1955 with the first tram to East Brunswick operating on 6 May 1956. The W7 class of trams were built for running on these lines and the new Z class trams first ran on route 96.
The line was extended south to St Kilda along Spencer St, the former St Kilda Railway, Fitzroy Street and The Esplanade to terminate in Acland Street on 20 November 1987 following the conversion of the St Kilda Railway (along with the Port Melbourne Line) to light rail. The broad gauge 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) track was re-gauged to standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) and the overhead voltage was reduced from 1500V DC to 600V DC with light rail platforms built adjacent to the former stations platforms.
After the merger of the M>Tram network with Yarra Trams in 2004, most D2 class trams were transferred from Malvern depot to Southbank depot to help alleviate the congestion on the route. Since the introduction of these low floor Combino trams on the route, accessible stops have been built in Bourke Street, Fitzroy Street and St Kilda Esplanade, increasing customer safety and comfort.
In response to frequent overcrowding on the tram system in 2008, the state government leased new C2 class trams from Mulhouse, France specifically to run the route. The first of these new trams began operation on 11th June, 2008 with the nickname Bumble Bee 1.
Read more about this topic: Melbourne Tram Route 96
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