LaTrobe St - the poor relation? [Was: Docklands tunnel!]
  Mal Rowe

On 17/02/2018 8:08 AM, Daniel Bowendanielbowen@... [TramsDownUnder] wrote:
>

> How do you define "revitalising" ? There are an awful lot of big buildings now along Latrobe Street, especially around Melbourne Central (mostly commercial/retail plus RMIT University), but also around Flagstaff station (mostly commercial/residential). Perhaps not as many as further south, but certainly a lot more than 30 years ago.

>

> One can certainly argue though that tram service provision hasn't kept up.


LaTrobe St seems to have always been the 'poor relation' - condemned to a shuttle service, invaluable as a relief route when Bourke or Collins is blocked, but not considered worth of being used for trams coming to the city from any tram route.  Even back in the 1960s it was only used as the city entry street for a few peak hour services.

A reported proposal not long ago to use LaTrobe as the city route for the revived and extended route 12 did not get very far.

It seems that Melbourne tram travellers want their tram to enter via a route that is fairly centrally located in the CBD grid - meaning a short walk to any location.  That means that Collins, Bourke, Swanston and Elizabeth are preferred - and the pollies get lots of mail if their tram is potentially going to be moved from those streets.   I suspect that will be a major argument against any proposal for Fisherman's Bend services to enter via LaTrobe.

Having said that, adding Fisherman's Bend to Collins or Bourke will cause tram congestion ... although that could be reduced with some through routing.

I recently came across the attached map (which is part of a map supporting the 1945 proposal to extend the West Preston tramway). It reminded me that at that time, the only East-West tram lines in the CBD were in Flinders St and Collins St!

Mal Rowe - who would have preferred the Fisherman's Bend public transport to be planned before the re-zoning.

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