D class Melbourne tram
low-floor trams of the Melbourne network
The D class Melbourne tram is a fleet of low-floor Combino trams that operate on the Melbourne tram network. They were built by Siemens in Uerdingen, Krefeld, Germany, and are divided into two classes: the three section D1-class which was introduced between 2002 and 2004, and the five section D2-class which was introduced in 2004. The D class was procured by M>Tram and have been operated by Yarra Trams since they took control of the entire tram network in April 2004.
History
To meet a franchise commitment to introduce new trams to replace Z-class trams, 59 German built Siemens Combino low-floor trams were introduced by M>Tram.
The first tram arrived for testing in August 2002, and the first four entered service in November 2002. M>Tram operations were transferred to Yarra Trams in April 2004 following negotiations with the State Government after National Express handed the M>Tram franchise back to the government in December 2002.
To aid disabled access to trams from platform stops, 'gap eliminators' were fitted to all 59 D1 and D2-class trams in 2013. Costing $400,000 to fit to the fleet, they are a strip attached to the door step of the trams that prevent the wheels of wheelchairs from getting stuck between the door step and platform. 'Gap eliminators' proved successful in an earlier 2012 trial on two route 96 Ds, before being fitted to all D1 and D2-class trams. In August 2004, D1 3507 was badly damaged in a collision and returned to Germany in November 2004 for repairs.
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This entry incorporates text from “D class Melbourne tram” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.