The Demise of the Brisbane Tram Network: A Sad History

The Brisbane Tramways Company operated profitably a network of electric powered trams in Brisbane from 1897 to 1923. The Queensland Government under Premier Theodore purchased the network and an eight-man Board of the Brisbane Tramways Trust was appointed. The trust managed the network from 1 January 1923. However, once the city's numerous municipalities and shires had been bundled into a single 'Greater Brisbane' authority, the ownership of the tramway and its debt were transferred to the new Brisbane City Council on 30 November 1925.¹

The tram network was greatly expanded from the inner city to the newer suburbs of Grange, Ashgrove, Enoggera, Chermside, Moorooka, Mt Gravatt, Belmont, and Barton Road. The network grew to a track length of 199 kilometres.

By 1959 most of the tracks were laid in concrete, which was a method of track construction pioneered in Brisbane. The tram network was profitable from 1926 until 1948 and the funds were used to reduced the cost of municipal rates for residents.² From mid 1928 a new Power Station at New Farm came into service supplying both the trams and domestic power.

Between 1938 and 1964, one hundred and fifty-five trams with four electric motors and enclosed saloons were designed and built by the City Council in its works depot.  The trams were known as the "400 series" and numbered accordingly. They proved to have low maintenance costs and were the backbone of the network.³

The Story Bridge opened in July 1940. The bridge was designed to carry motor vehicles and pedestrians only. No provision was made for the tram network to use the steel-truss bridge spanning from Fortitude Valley North to Kangaroo Point.

After World War Two, passenger numbers greatly declined because of the explosive increase in the number of private motor vehicles and diesel-powered buses. Between 1949 and 1963, Brisbane motorcar registrations rose from 80,000 to 298,000⁴ as the relative cost of motor vehicles declined in this period. Motorcar ownership was viewed as a status symbol and gave the owners independence from public transport.

Clem Jones was elected Lord Mayor of Brisbane in 1961. He was pro-freeway and favoured private cars for personal transport. Despite protests by residents, the Kalinga, Toowong, Rainworth and Bulimba Ferry routes were closed in December 1962 after a fire at the Paddington Tram Depot destroyed 67 trams, which represented 20% of the entire fleet. The City Council spent the insurance payout on 13 new buses. It also decided to build a new bus depot at Toowong instead of rebuilding the Paddington Tram depot.⁵

Clem Jones refused to spend any additional City Council funds on the tram network, as he considered the provision of a citywide sewerage system, sealed roads and underground car parks were greater priorities. 

The new concrete Victoria Bridge opened in 1969 and, like the Story Bridge before it, no provisions for tramways were made. The former steel Victoria Bridge as in the attached photograph had to carried the tram network across the Brisbane River since 1897 when overhead power lines strung across the bridge for electric-powered trams.⁶ The decision not to include tram tracks across the Victoria Bridge signalled the end of the tram network because it divided the network between the north side routes and the ones on the south side of the river. Tram passenger numbers had dropped from 160 million in 1944-45 to 46 million. The annual number of bus passenger at the same time was 30 million, which showed a very considerable decline in the use of public transport.⁷

The thirteenth of April 1969 was the last day of operations of the tram network.⁸ In the same year 340 new Leyland Buses that cost the City Council $6.8 million were purchased. This action followed the acceptance of the Brisbane Transportation Study by Wilbur Smith and Associates submitted in 1965. The study recommended the replacement of all trams and trolley buses with diesel buses and the construction of "ring-radical" freeways. One-way double lane thoroughfares through the city and inner suburbs plus the Riverside expressway were other recommendations.⁹

The concrete-girder Centenary Bridge was opened in 1964 for motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians only. The bridge was duplicated in 1986 and links Kenmore across the Brisbane River with Jindalee.

By 1970 the population of the Brisbane area had grown to over a million people and motor vehicle traffic was choking the city. Wilbur Smith and Associates, at a cost of $133,000, were again commissioned to find a solution. Ironically, the Smith report emphasised the need to woo travellers away from their cars and so to put them aboard public transport. The study recommended the electrification of all Brisbane's trains and the construction of a new rail bridge across the Brisbane River plus an underground rail system to serve five inner-city stations. 

The steel-arch Merivale Rail Bridge opened in 1978. It links Roma Street station to South Brisbane. The electrifications of the Brisbane suburb rail network occurred between 1979 and 1988 with an efficient 25kV AC System, which enabled the number of power substations to be significantly reduced. A new four-track tunnel was built between Brunswick Street (now Fortitude Valley) and Bowen Hills stations. Existing tunnels between Central and Fortitude Valley and Central and Roma Street Stations were enlarged to accommodate more traffic. A flyover was built at Mayne for the Ferny Grove line to eliminate rail junction conflicts.¹¹

Today, the Brisbane City Council is introducing the Brisbane Metro by utilising existing express busways and a new fleet of high-capacity, fully electric buses. Boarding platforms have been installed to make boarding easier for disabled people and parents with prams.

In an effort to lure travellers to public transport, ease traffic congestion and to reduce motor vehicle pollution in Brisbane, in 2024 the Queensland Government introduced 50 cent standard fares on buses, ferries and trains. This policy has been maintained even through a change of government. 

The British Campaign for Better Transport has calculated that a single lane of a city could carry 1,500 people per hour in cars, 8,000 people in buses or up to 22,000 people if the single lane was used as a tramway.

In hindsight, it has been proven that the increase of freeways has not resolved the traffic congestion and certainly has exaggerated Brisbane's greenhouse gas emission, which is a major contributor to climate change. Better use of public monies on an improved tram network would have been a far better investment over time, as it would have moved more commuters, more quickly and much more cheaply. There is a beauty in hindsight when foresight goes astray.

References

¹ David Burke, One American Too Many: Boss Badger and the Brisbane Trams, Queensland Museum Publication, 2012, pages 111 to 118

² Harold James Summers, Trams are here to Stay, Courier-Mail, 21 February 1946, page 2

³ J E Morwood, History of Electric Tramways in Brisbane, a paper presented to the Queensland Institute of Engineers, February 1970

⁴ J Cole, Shapping a City: Greater Brisbane 1925-1985, Brisbane, William Brooks 1984, page 263

⁵ Luke Keogh and Peter Spearritt, Where did the Trams go?, Queensland Historical Atlas, 2015

⁶ Wikipedia, Bridges over the Brisbane River, downloaded 23/2/2025

⁷ J E Morwood, History of Electric Tramways in Brisbane,  a paper presented to the Queensland Institute of Engineers, February 1970

⁸ Howard Clark and David Kennan, Brisbane Tramways: the Last Decade, Transit Press, 1977

⁹ Wilbur Smith and Associates, Brisbane Transport Study, 3 volumes, Queensland Main Roads Department and Brisbane City Council, 1965 and Allan Krosch, History of Brisbane's Major Arterial Roads: A Main Roads Perspective, Queensland Roads edition no.8, March 2010

¹⁰ Canberra Times, Brisbane's Transport headache, 23 May 1970, p.12

¹¹ Wikipedia, Rail electrification in Queensland, downloaded 21/2/2025

Further reading

• Vintage photographs of trams on Flickr - Part One and Part Two
• End of an Era - Film of Brisbane Trams, 1969 (blog post)