Route 96 Tram Upgrade Project

Project summary

Route 96 is a 14km-long tram route operated by Yarra Trams that runs between Blyth Street, Brunswick East and Acland Street, St Kilda Beach. The purpose of the Route 96 Tram Upgrade Project is to meet the growing demand on the line and improve service reliability, efficiency and accessibility.

This project is being developed and delivered by a partnership between Yarra Trams, Public Transport Victoria (PTV), VicRoads and all local councils along Route 96. The key objectives of the $82m project include an upgrade of tram stops to provide improved passenger and road user safety, efficient tram operations, smarter road delineation and better traffic signalisation.

…what we did on this project

Touch Projects were engaged by Yarra Trams to deliver all major stages of the Route 96 Tram Upgrade Project.

At completion, this project will deliver DDA platforms at all stops along this route, provide improved passenger and road user safety, and will result in more efficient tram operations due to modernised signalling and improved tram-road vehicle interface. Route 96 will become Melbourne’s first fully DDA-compliant tram route and will set the benchmark for the remaining tram routes.

Touch Projects have provided numerous project resources along this journey, including project engineers, project managers, senior project managers and commercial managers.

We have led all aspects of the design, undertaken peer reviews, provided commentary on construction estimates, managed various procurement processes and developed numerous risk management strategies for the various occupations that have occurred over during this project.

Positive stakeholder engagement and strong collaboration throughout this project have been pivotal in shaping the designs, obtaining the required approvals in a timely manner, and being able to devise a construction and procurement strategy that results in minimal disruption to affected parties. Touch Projects has managed all phases of this project and has been engaged since it commenced. We have provided project leadership and have assisted the project partners in delivering a fully DDA-compliant tram along Melbourne’s ‘premium line’ tram route.

Once completed, this route will be the first tram route in Melbourne to be fully accessible with level access platforms.

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