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10/07/09 - The Honorable John Brumby, MP, State Premier of Victoria, Australia, today presented Mayor Gavin Newsom a vintage Melbourne tram for operation on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s (SFMTA) popular F Market & Wharves historic streetcar line.
"I am delighted that this tram has found a new and very welcome home here and will be used for F Line services. It is with great pleasure that the Victorian community can once again donate one of our iconic W-class trams to the people of San Francisco," said Brumby.
"We are grateful to the people of Melbourne for this generous gift. Both of our cities understand the importance of preserving our history and using that preservation to promote environmentally-sustainable transportation. I am certain that our shared values will keep Melbourne and San Francisco beautiful and livable for generations to come," said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.
"Truly, it is fitting that these two world-class Pacific cities—Melbourne and San Francisco—should be joined by their shared love and respect for public transportation and the continued operation of these wonderful trams," said McCray.
"The F Market Line is a labor of love for many activists and further evidence of the talent of Muni’s highly skilled crafts workers. We hope our friends in Melbourne will find time to visit our newest addition often," said Nathaniel P. Ford Sr., SFMTA Executive Director/CEO.
The new streetcar, No. 916, built in 1946, is the second Melbourne tram to join Muni’s historic streetcar fleet. Melbourne tram No. 496, built in 1929, was purchased from Melbourne in 1984 for Muni’s popular Trolley Festivals on Market Street, the proof of concept that led to the creation of the F Line. Both trams are part of Melbourne’s famed "W-class," of which 750 were built. Not long after tram No. 496 was purchased, the State of Victoria imposed an embargo on further sales of Melbourne trams because of their historic value.
The SFMTA works with its non-profit partner, Market Street Railway (MSR), to preserve San Francisco’s historic streetcar fleet, the F Market line. The streetcars of the F Market Line are one of the City's top tourist attractions, just like the cable cars. Together, they carry more than 40,000 riders per day throughout the City.
The Trolley Festivals of the 1980s resulted in the permanent return of streetcars to Market Street in the form of the F Line, the most popular service of its kind in all of North America. Over the past twenty years, with the assistance of MSR, Muni has acquired and restored more than a dozen historic streetcars and cable cars for service, adding diversity to Muni's peerless historic fleet. Muni currently maintains a fleet of 38 historic streetcars.
Melbourne operates the largest network of trams or streetcars in the Southern Hemisphere. Indeed, the city’s most recognizable symbol is the iconic "W-Class" tram. Such vintage trams still run on Melbourne’s City Circle line around its downtown, and on a few other routes, although most of today’s Melbourne system is served by modern trams.
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