Yarra Trams

I've ridden Australian trams in Sydney, Gold Coast and Adelaide. 

I've ridden trams in Toronto, Manchester, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Porto, Barcelona, Vienna and Wursburg. 

I've used Melbourne's public transport trams for forty years. I am pretty well a daily user now. I know our trams well.

I have a theory that if you don't notice your tram ride, it was a good experience. This is not so in Melbourne, the largest tram city in the world with our trams operated by a private company under the moniker of Yarra Trams. The company has to meet performance figures and it generally does, so how come Camberwell route 72 trams are such a mess (it passes through many congested shopping areas, but nothing is done to fix the delays). How come a simple route like the 1, East Coburg to South Melbourne Beach is such a mess?

The performance figure by Yarra Trams for January was 84.5% of trams on time. That is a lie. The figures are doctored in some way. To note, the allowance made for a late running tram is it has to be five minutes late before being judged as late. With tram services on most routes being every 12 minutes or better, you can wait 17 minutes for a tram that is not officially late.

Anyway, that is not what this post is about. It is about the poor training of tram drivers by Yarra Trams.

Some drivers surge drive with the accelerator and brake,  On, off, on off. It is very unpleasant for passengers. Some start off so abruptly even an experienced passenger like me gets caught out. Some brake so hard at the last minute, there are strong G forces at work.

I can ride for a couple of kilometres along St Kilda Road and one tram driver won't ring the tram bell once. The next time over the same distance, the driver will ring the bell 40 plus times, I guess warning a sparrow flying overhead of the tram's approach. 

Some drivers move forward at platform stops and won't open doors to allow newly arrived passengers to board. I understand why they may do this in the city at times when there is constant stream of people wanting to catch the tram, and why they might if the tram T light signal is brief, but in that case, why do it well before the T light signal comes up. That is just plain nasty behaviour. 

There is no doubt in my mind that Yarra Trams' driver training is very poor, very inconsistent and the drivers unmonitored for driving standards. Female drivers seem better. Younger drivers seem better. Older male drivers of Asian and Middle Eastern appearance seem to be the worst. 

While waiting for a city bound 58 tram last weekend, two 3a trams arrived, one behind the first. Clearly the tram was quite late. The old driver of the first tram slowly left his tram, used the porta loo and slowly returned to his driver cabin. No rush just because your tram is late. But as he was returning to his tram, for about ten seconds he paused and smilingly and lecherously stared at a young and attractive Asian woman. 

Yeah, I look at guys on a tram but discreetly, not like an old lecherous man. It was sickening to observe. 

Yes, I complained but Yarra Trams want times, dates and details about each incident. I am not about dobbing in individuals as the issue is about training and monitoring of Yarra Trams drivers. 

Melbourne might have the largest tram system in the world but it certainly doesn't have the best drivers, and it one of the world's slowest tram systems.