M-Tram

M>Tram was an Australian tram company, operating half of Melbourne's tramway network. Owned by National Express, it originally traded as Swanston Trams before being rebranded in October 2001. It was absorbed into Yarra Trams in April 2004.

History

Swanston Trams was established in October 1997 when Met Tram was split into two business units in preparation for privatisation of the Public Transport Corporation. In August 1999, National Express commenced a 12-year contract to operate the Swanston Trams franchise.

In October 2001 Swanston Trams was rebranded as M>Tram. In December 2002 National Express handed back the franchise having been unable to renegotiate financial terms with the State Government.

In May 2003 the State Government announced it would establish a single company to operate the tram networks, and was negotiating with Yarra Trams (who operated the other half of the network) to operate this entity. In February 2004 an agreement was reached, and the networks were reunited in April 2004.

SM91

SM91 is the Norwegian designation for a tram type which operated on the Oslo Tramway until 2002. The trams were imported from Sweden, where they had originally run on the Gothenburg Tramway under the designation M25. The trams were originally delivered to the Gothenburg Tramway between 1958 and 1961. A total of 36 trams were eventually exported to Oslo, Norway, numbered 264 to 299.

History

125 trams were built by Hägglund for Göteborgs Spårvägar, where they were designated M25 and given the serial numbers 501–625. They were built between 1958 and 1962. Following the decision to change from left to right-side driving on Dagen H on 3 September 1967, the tram company ordered an additional 130 trams in the M28 and M29 series. The M25s were then sent back to Hägglunds to be converted to right-hand driving, with doors on both sides. Two trams were then driven back-to-back, and the direction of the trams could simply be reversed on Dagen H.

Oslo

In the early 1990s, the Ring 3 bypass highway was being upgraded, and this caused a disruption to the Grünerløkka–Torshov Line at Storo where it crosses this highway. To continue operations on the line, trams had to turn without a turning loop, but the company did not have enough trams which could run this way. However, Gothenburg had a number of surplus M25 trams capable of running back to back trams. The trams were therefore purchased by Oslo at the token price of NOK 1 each, although upgrading the trams for Oslo use cost NOK 200,000. The rear travelling car in a back-to-back set had to be closed during a trip as its doors were facing the wrong side of the road.