Wellington's Last Tram (1964)

[@mayfurrnz]

Fun fact: Tram 207 in this film at 6:48 is currently undergoing restoration at the Wellington Tramway Museum, Paekakariki.

[@primojonpresents571]

I recall speaking with a former General Manager of the Wellington City Transport operation, Reg Todd. Reg began his career as a Tram conductor. He rose through the ranks to become the head of the Organisation. Reg said that whilst there was some debate about trams vs buses, the Mayor, Council and Transport department senior management all agreed to go for trolleybuses , which had the same attributes of an electric tram, but which were more "flexible" and could "fit into modern traffic streams". And that is the reason the tram era came to a close. Reg Todd was immensely sad to see the destruction of the Trolleybus system in Wellington.

[@zanelindsay1267]

Wellington had a significant trolley bus system 1949-2017 which was planned to replace the trams, similar to what happened in some other cities including London. Trolley buses had advantages over trams in several respects: they could pull to the curb for loading and unloading (less obstruction to other traffic and safer for pedestrians); better traction on hills, easier to provide new routes (no tracks, just wires), and to some extent trolley buses could re-use the existing electrical infrastructure provided for trams. A shift to trolley buses often made sense when a tram fleet was aging and new route patterns were developing. But trolley buses tended to also became disfavored eventually. Ironic, when now there is a big push to phase out use of fossil fuels, and light rail is returning in many places. At 3:47 in the video it can be seen that one tram route diverging from a junction has been paved over, and a trolley bus is on that other route.

[@c00kee]

Awesome old footage, thanks heaps for posting it up.

[@1955skateboard]

This is what happens when you elect the Manager of Mantle Motors on the Council the last thing they want is to keep the tram, not good for business the almighty dollar rules every time, shame on us. The last segments of the track were removed last year in Manners Mall and we called it progress

[@kiwitrainguy]

For those who believe in conspiracy theories this makes sense: replace trams with buses so that the coach (bus) builders get more business electricity is replaced by oil so the oil companies profit (all of NZ's oil comes from overseas so we have to export more to pay for it) steel wheels on trams replaced with rubber tyres on buses which need replacing more ofen I don't go in for conspiracy theories but it makes you wonder...

[@Fredshitzencrap]

@@kiwitrainguy the old tram stations are still around... with buses in them

[@iancurtis1152]

@@Fredshitzencrap Onepu Rd, Lyall Bay

[@michelflorent1613]

QUAND ? LE RETOUR DU TRAMWAY???

[@kiwitrainguy]

Dans certaines villes (principalement en Europe), les trams n'ont jamais été enlevés. Certaines villes ont introduit des tramways / tramways ces dernières années. Il est très difficile de ramener les tramways à Wellington car les rues sont trop étroites et il y a trop de voitures pour leur permettre de fonctionner correctement. Les tramways appartiennent à une époque qui précède les véhicules à moteur et ne peut revenir que si les véhicules automobiles disparaissent, ce que je ne vois pas de sitôt. In some cities (mostly in Europe) trams were never removed. Some cities have introduced trams/light rail in recent years. It is very difficult to bring back trams in Wellington as the streets are too narrow and there are too many cars to allow them to operate properly. Trams belong to an era that pre-dates motor vehicles and can only return if motor vehicles disappear which I can't see happening anytime soon.

[@MetroManMelbourne]

@@kiwitrainguy not really, trams can live around motor vehicles. As a melburnian I know that they can be fine around them

[@markussawyer686]

Hi there, Some great footage. I have some questions Id like to ask you. Could I email you directly? Regards, M