Yarra Trams

E class trams on Bourke Street in December 2013
Industry	Tram operator
Predecessor	The Met
Founded	October 1997
Headquarters	Melbourne
Area served	Melbourne
Key people	Clement Michel (CEO)
Parent	Keolis Downer
Website	www.yarratrams.com.au

Yarra Trams is the trading name of the Melbourne tram network, which is owned by VicTrack and which is leased to Yarra Trams by Public Transport Victoria on behalf of the Victorian State Government. The current franchise is operated by Keolis Downer. As at May 2014, Yarra Trams operate 487 trams, across 26 tram routes and a free City Circle tourist tram, over 1,763 tram stops. With 250 km (155.3 mi) of double track, Melbourne's tram network is the largest in the world.

In 2012/13 182.7 million journeys were taken on Melbourne's trams, with trams travelling more than 24.8 million kilometres annually. Each week Yarra Trams operates 31,400 scheduled tram services, which results in trams operating for approximately 20 hours per day and a team of 24-hour operations staff completing network maintenance and cleaning.

Yarra 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, TransdevTSL commenced operating the Yarra Trams franchise.

After National Express handed in the M>Tram franchise in December 2002, the State Government expressed interest in creating one metropolitan train operator and one tram operator. On 18 April 2004, TransdevTSL assumed operation of the whole Melbourne tram network.

TransdevTSL was shortlisted to bid for the franchise when it came up for renewal but lost to Keolis Downer who took over in November 2009. The Yarra Trams brand was retained.

The current franchise commenced on 30 November 2009, and will run for eight years, with the option of an extension for a further seven years. Keolis Downer introduced a new Yarra Trams logo along with a new livery featuring yellow doors.

As at June 2013 the fleet consists of 478 trams, operated from eight depots located around the system. The bulk of the fleet is made up of Z, A and B class trams, which were built by Comeng between 1975 and 1994.