Melbourne tram route 96
tram route in metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Melbourne tram route 96 is operated by Yarra Trams on the Melbourne tram network from East Brunswick to St Kilda Beach. The 13.9 kilometre route is operated out of Southbank and Preston depots with C2 and E class trams.
History
Part of the route opened as a cable tram line operated by the Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company on 30 August 1887, operating along Bourke and Nicholson Streets. It operated until 26 October 1940, when the Bourke Street cable lines were abandoned by the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) in favour of double decker buses. The Bourke Street cable lines were the last cable trams to operate in Melbourne.
The MMTB, unhappy with the performance of the buses, decided to reinstate trams when the buses reached life expiry, and rebuilt the tram tracks of the cable car routes. Trams on the route to East Preston (predecessor to the modern 86) started on 26 June 1955, while trams to Brunswick East began operating on 8 April 1956 as route 96.
The W7 class trams were built for running on these two lines. The new Z class trams first ran on route 96 in June 1975.
In the 1980s, it was decided to close the short St Kilda and Port Melbourne railway lines and convert them to light rail.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Melbourne tram route 96” as tram route in metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as tram route in metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q12061652. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1887, 1940, 1955 and 1956.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Melbourne tram route 96”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Melbourne tram route 96 primary sources, Melbourne tram route 96 archive and Melbourne research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Melbourne tram route 96”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Melbourne tram route 96” 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.