Through a partnership with Pacific Hydro and Sustainability Victoria, Yarra Trams has secured GreenPower from one of Pacific Hydro’s Victorian wind farms to power the wind tram.
Yarra Trams Chief Executive Officer Dennis Cliche said the company was thrilled to be implementing the demonstration project.
“Our hope is that the wind tram will generate greater awareness of the sustainability of public transport and the important role renewable energy must play in our future,” he said.
“It is our vision that in the coming years Yarra Trams will be able to power a larger proportion of our fleet with green energy with the support of the State of Victoria and our parent companies.
Article continues below…The wind tram, one of the low floor Combino models in the Yarra Trams fleet, has been wrapped in an eye-catching wind farm landscape design, with the interior displaying messages on climate change and clean energy.
Pacific Hydro Chief Executive Officer Rob Grant welcomed the initiative by Yarra Trams. “This is a great example of business leading the way and promoting sustainability,” said Mr Grant. “The wind tram makes an already sustainable form of mass transport even greener.”
According to the South Australian company Adelaide Metro, up to 3.1 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions can be saved each year through public transport use. Many Australian states have made the switch to cleaner energy use and fuel consumption, with gas-fired bus fleets in Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra.
Melbourne’s wind tram will be in service on one of the city’s busiest routes, Route 96 (St Kilda Beach - East Brunswick), as part of the campaign that will run to the end of 2008.
Yarra Trams said that along with increased tram priority, a modernised and more efficient network and new vehicles, a move to renewable energy will further enhance the role of trams in achieving a more sustainable Melbourne.
