Hi Dudley and all

I experienced the no through fares edict on my first trip to Melbourne in 1963. I think it was on an East Coburg to South Melbourne Beach tram and I had to pay to Flinders Street then another fare to the final destination.

This would have been inconvenient for regular passengers as well, I imagine, as there would no doubt have been passengers from the Moreland line, for example, wanting to travel to destinations along St Kilda Road.

How was this type of thing handled on other systems?

I can't recall ever buying, or asking for, a through ticket from Lydiard Street North to Sebastopol, or Eaglehawk to Quarry Hill. As far as I recall, I automatically paid two fares.

Likewise in Brisbane, I don't think through fares could be bought from, say, Salisbury to Clayfield but then again, there may have been an overlap to the Valley.

Destination signs were displayed for the ultimate destination in all cases.

Of course, Brisbane, with its wonderfully cheap fares, was not a problem and after 18.30 each week night and on weekends there was the 6/6 (65 cents), later increased to 8/- (80 cents) excursion ticket available for two adults with unlimited travel. Conducturs sometimes grumbled about having to issue the excursion ticket on weeknights as this was quite unusual, except for enthusiasts.

Ahh, memories of riding a drop centre car at night. That was a rarity.

Regards

Dick