March 2026
Various photos of Bourke Street from near Queen Street in the 1940s. I know they must be after 1940, because that’s when the last cable tram ran, replaced by double decker buses.
In the first image the rough surface must be the wood block pavers which were used to infill the road between the tracks. Eventually the buses proved unable to keep up with demand, and it was decided to reinstate trams here, starting up in 1955. This was largely because the head of the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board ex-Major General Robert Risson (since 1949) was a great believer in the efficiency of trams. He was in charge until 1970, and is widely regarded as the main reason we kept our trams, when almost all other major English speaking cities were ripping them out. Thanks Mr Risson ❤️ All pics via Facebook.
Storey of Melbourne 
Not that I am so interested in buses, but these are great photos that I’ve not seen before. I’ve read a bit about the buses taking over Bourke Street, and those used to cable trams did not know how to deal with buses and a lot of effort was put into ‘training’ passengers. It must have been grand day when the brand new electric trams began servicing Bourke Street.
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