Or are these 100 extra trams on top of the 150?
My guess is that it will be 50 E2s (or E3s) and 50 F class tramsTrams longer than the E class will mean a lot of platform stops needing to be rebuilt, so I think that is a fair way off and the 19 and 96 are probably the only routes where trams longer than the E are justified.
E3s is they want to make any modifications to the cab or the like, otherwise the E2 will suffice
F class trams would be the same design as E2, but with an additional middle car to make it ~45m. Routes 96/109 would take the F class trams, letting E2s cascade down the line with the additional E2s built. B2 class trams would fill out the remaining network.
edit: By my count (vicsig) there's 69 A class trams and 111 Z class trams. 180 total to be replaced. Really should be looking at ordering 100 E class and 100 F class to replace these. (F class going to routes 75,86,96,119)
They will need to do a 1-for-1 replacement if they wish to maintain the frequency on all routes.My guess is that it will be 50 E2s (or E3s) and 50 F class tramsTrams longer than the E class will mean a lot of platform stops needing to be rebuilt, so I think that is a fair way off and the 19 and 96 are probably the only routes where trams longer than the E are justified.
E3s is they want to make any modifications to the cab or the like, otherwise the E2 will suffice
F class trams would be the same design as E2, but with an additional middle car to make it ~45m. Routes 96/109 would take the F class trams, letting E2s cascade down the line with the additional E2s built. B2 class trams would fill out the remaining network.
edit: By my count (vicsig) there's 69 A class trams and 111 Z class trams. 180 total to be replaced. Really should be looking at ordering 100 E class and 100 F class to replace these. (F class going to routes 75,86,96,119)
I also don't think we will see exactly 1-for-1 replacement. 100 new E class should be able to account for all of the remaining Z3s: remember there are still 10 ordered yet to be delivered...so that is 110 more assuming that the total order is now 200.
If the extra 100 is on top of the 150 already committed to, then that is 160 more to come from this point (60 more to come under the existing commitment). That should also be enough to knock off the A class as well.
My guess as well that a longer version of the E will simply be called E3 or E4...as they did with the C2 and D2.
The original 2010 order was for 50 trams, with options on another 100. Those 50 were the E-class. The subsequent dribs and drabs orders from 2015 were for E2-class. As well as ordering E2-class, the 2019 Budget had a vague reference to “design and develop Next Generation Trams”. Supposedly the E-class was designed with the option of a fourth module (may be behind a paywall):Hey all,
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/supersize-my-tram-45metre-trams-foreshadowed-for-melbournes-busiest-routes-20151120-gl3uoh.html
Is Dudley Street long enough for an E-class? It would be difficult to extend St Vincents Plaza to accommodate longer trams.