New operator seeks all-night weekend trams
The Age
Thursday August 27, 2009
TRAMS could run all night on Fridays and Saturdays, under an option put before the Brumby Government by new tram operator Keolis to cater for the hundreds of thousands of revellers who flock to Melbourne€™s city centre each weekend.Keolis and its bid partner EDI Downer are poised to sign a contract with the Government to run Melbourne€™s trams for the next eight years.Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky will within days sign off on the contract, likely to be worth about $2 billion to the consortium, which will will take over the city€™s tram system on December 1.An option put forward by Keolis during the bidding process was to begin running trams all night on Fridays and Saturdays. The Department of Transport is yet to evaluate the proposal, but has in the past knocked back several similar proposals by the current operator.The Transport Department was concerned about the extra cost of running late night services, security concerns for drivers dealing with drunk and unruly passengers, and what effect all-night services would have on tram and track maintenance €” much of which is done at night.The Government has also invested heavily in its NightRider bus service, which runs on Friday and Saturday nights on 12 routes.Final services on most tram lines now leave the city centre at about 1am, and reach their destination at about 2am.A Keolis spokesman last night would not comment on the Friday and Saturday night plan, saying it would be inappropriate before the final contracts were signed.Ms Kosky, who is yet to see any detail for an all-night option, would not be drawn on the plan. Her spokesman, Stephen Moynihan, pointed to the popularity of NightRider buses on Friday and Saturday nights, with patronage up 56 per cent in the past year.Reacting to a call by Melbourne City Council for trains to run all night on Friday and Saturday, Mr Moynihan said there were no plans to introduce late-night train services.€˜€˜At night, necessary maintenance is conducted on the rail network and trains are cleaned,€™€™ he said, adding that there was no evidence that a lack of public transport caused violence in the city.
© 2009 The Age