Route 109
C class tram at St Vincent's Plaza in January 2008
Overview
System	Melbourne
Operator	Yarra Trams
Depot	Kew
Vehicle	A class C class
Began service	19 December 1993
Predecessors	Route 42, 111
Night-time	Friday & Saturday
Route
Start	Box Hill
Via	Whitehorse Road Victoria Street Collins Street
End	Port Melbourne
Length	19.3 kilometres
Timetable	Route 109 timetable
Map	Route 109 map
Route map (({map))} ← Route 96  (({system_nav))}  (({next_line))} →

Melbourne tram route 109 is operated by Yarra Trams on the Melbourne tram network from Box Hill to Port Melbourne. The 19.3 kilometre route is operated out of Kew depot with A and C class trams.

History

The origins of route 109 lie in separate tram lines, a cable tram from Spencer Street to the Yarra River, a horse tram from the Yarra River to Kew Cemetery, an electric line from Kew Junction to Box Hill (extended over the years), as well as the Port Melbourne railway line.

A cable line was opened by the Melbourne Tramway & Omnibus Company from Spencer Street to Brunswick Street along Collins Street, MacArthur Street, Gisborne Street and Victoria Parade on 2 October 1886, and extended to the west side of the Yarra River along Victoria Parade and Victoria Street on 22 November 1886.^[1] A connecting horse tram was built from the east side of the Yarra River to Kew Cemetery, along Barkers Road, High Street South and High Street, opening on 28 December 1887.

The Prahran & Malvern Tramways Trust (PMTT) opened a line from High Street to Burke Road along Cotham Road on 30 May 1913. On 1 November 1914 the PMTT received permission to convert the horse tram line to electric traction, and the new electric line was opened on 24 February 1915. The PMTT extended the Cotham Road line to Union Road, Mont Albert along Whitehorse Road, on 30 September 1916.^[2][3]

In 1929 the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) started converting the Collins Street cable lines to electric traction, with the last cable tram running down Collins Street on 14 September 1929, and the first electric tram on 8 December 1929. At the same time the MMTB built a new electric line down the centre of Victoria Parade to replace the cable line, which opened on 15 September 1929.^[4] For the next six decades the Melbourne to Mont Albert tram was numbered 42, celebrated by a 1982 theatrical production, Storming Mont Albert by Tram, which was performed on a specially-chartered Route 42 tram from the Mont Albert terminus to the city and return.^[5]

On 21 December 1987, route 111 commenced running from Exhibition (Carlton Gardens) at Nicholson Street to Port Melbourne along Bourke Street, Spencer Street and the former Port Melbourne railway line, following the conversion of the railway (along with the St Kilda line) to light rail.^[6][7][8] The broad gauge 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) track was re-gauged to standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) and the overhead voltage was reduced from 1500 V DC to 600 V DC with light rail platforms built adjacent to or near the former stations platforms.

On 19 December 1993, routes 42 and 111 were combined as route 109.^[9][10][11] Route 42 continued to run as a peak-hour variant of route 109, and from 18 November 2002, the route deviated from route 109 and ran between Box Hill and the Collins Street West extension in Docklands.^[12] From 28 June 2004 until 21 November 2005, the route was truncated back to Spencer Street while Spencer Street station (now Southern Cross station) was redeveloped.^[13] It was extended further along the Collins Street extension to Victoria Harbour (Merchant Street) on 21 September 2009.^[14][6] At this point, the route ran one morning trip and three afternoon trips from Box Hill to Victoria Harbour and then back to Box Hill.^[15] Route 42 was last listed as an official route in late 2010 / early 2011 before it gradually disappeared without an official announcement.^[16]

When Station Pier was refurbished in 1999, tram tracks were laid to allow for route 109 to be extended onto the pier, but have never been connected.^[17]

The line was extended from its original terminus at Mont Albert to Box Hill along Whitehorse Road for 2.2 kilometres on 2 May 2003.^[18][19][20] In January 2016, route 109 began operating through the night on Fridays and Saturdays as part of the Night Network.^[21]

Route

Route 109 runs from Box Hill, travelling west on Whitehorse Road through the suburbs of Mont Albert, Surrey Hills, Balwyn and Deepdene. Entering Kew at Burke Road, Whitehorse Road becomes Cotham Road. It continues west, through Kew Junction and then south west along High Street, High Street South and turns west into Barkers Road.

It crosses the Yarra River into Victoria Street, Richmond and continues west, at Hoddle Street Victoria Street becomes Victoria Parade, it passes through St Vincent's Plaza, passing St Vincent's Hospital, the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital and turns south onto Gisborne Street, continues south west along MacArthur Street and turns west into Collins Street, entering the CBD, passing Melbourne Town Hall and City Square.

It turns south into Spencer Street, passing Southern Cross station, then crosses the Yarra River and enters Southbank on Clarendon Street before traversing the suburbs of South Melbourne and Port Melbourne on a right-of-way using the former Port Melbourne railway line and terminates at Port Melbourne railway station near Station Pier.

Operation

Route 109 is operated out of Kew depot with A and C1 class trams.^[22] For a period from 2002, some services were also operated by Southbank depot.^[23][24]

Route map

v t e Route 109
Box Hill - Port Melbourne via Mont Albert, City & Southbank Free tram zone covers stops 124 to 8, fare zone 1 from stop 57 to 10, 124A to 129, fare zone 2 from stop 57 to 47
Suburb Street Stop No. Box Hill Connections Box Hill Whitehorse Road 58 Box Hill Central Box Hill Box Hill station ●● 57 Nelson Road 56 Elgar Road Mont Albert Whitehorse Road 55 Hood Street 54 Inglisby Road Surrey Hills Whitehorse Road 53 Union Road 284, 612 51 Narrak Road 50 Wharton Street Balwyn Whitehorse Road 49 Northcote Avenue 48 Balwyn Shopping Centre 47 Balwyn Road 285 Zone 1+2 Zone 1 46 Balwyn Cinema 45 Hardwicke Street Deepdene Whitehorse Road 44 Deepdene Park 43 Deepdene Shopping Centre 42 Burke Road 72; 548 Burke Road Tram 72    Melbourne University Kew Cotham Road 41 Kew Traffic School 40 St George's Hospital 548 39 Thomas Street 38 Marshall Avenue 37 Belmont Avenue 36 Glenferrie Road 16 Glenferrie Road Tram 16    Melbourne University 35 Charles Street 609 34 High Street High Street Tram 48 Balwyn North   Kew High Street 33 Cotham Road 48 32 Kew Junction 200, 207, 609 31 Stevenson Street Church Street Tram 48    Victoria Harbour Hawthorn Barkers Road 29 High Street 48 Kew tram depot 27 Findon Crescent Richmond Victoria Street 25 River Boulevard Victoria Gardens Siding 24 Victoria Gardens 12 23 Leslie Street 22 McKay Street 21 Church Street 78 Church Street Tram 78    Balaclava 20 Lennox Street 19 North Richmond station North Richmond station ●● East Melbourne Victoria Parade 18 Hoddle Street Hoddle Street buses 16 Wellington Street 15 Smith Street 13 Lansdowne Street St Vincent's Plaza Siding Brunswick Street Tram 11     West Preston 12 St Vincent's Plaza Victoria Parade Tram 30     La Trobe Street   Gisborne Street 11 Albert Street   Macarthur Street 10 Parliament station Parliament Station ●●●●●●●●●●●●●● Spring Street Tram 48, City Circle Wellington Parade   Nicholson Street Melbourne CBD Collins Street 8 Spring Street 48, City Circle 7 101 Collins Street 605 Swanston Street Tram 1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, 72 St Kilda Road   Melbourne University 6 Town Hall 1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, 72 Elizabeth Street Tram 19, 57, 59 Flinders Street station   North Melbourne 5 Elizabeth Street 19, 57, 59 3 William Street 58; Queen Street buses William Street Tram 58 Toorak   West Coburg 1 Southern Cross station 11, 48, 96 Southern Cross station ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● ●●●●●●●●●●●●● Spencer Street Tram 96     Bourke Street Collins Street Tram 11, 48     Docklands Flinders Street Tram 70, 75, City Circle Wattle Park/Vermont South   Docklands Flinders Street Viaduct   Spencer Street 124 Batman Park Southbank Clarendon Street 124A Casino/MCEC 12 Clarendon Street Tram 12 St Kilda (Fitzroy Street)     Normanby Road 125 Clarendon Street Junction 96 St Kilda Light Rail Tram 96 St Kilda Beach   South Melbourne Normanby Road 125A Southbank tram depot Southbank tram depot 126 Montague Street Port Melbourne Station Street 127 North Port 128 Graham Street 129 Beacon Cove 236, PPC Suburb No. Stop Name (Road Name) Connections
Note: Green denotes free tram zone

Bus route

When cruise ships are berthed at Station Pier, Transit Systems Victoria operate a parallel bus service as route 109 between Station Pier and the Arts Centre.^[25]