A retired W-Class tram is set to be restored and transformed into a new community coffee shop in Diamond Creek, thanks to the Andrews Labor Government.
The tram will be restored by volunteers from the local Men’s Shed and converted into a social enterprise coffee shop.
It will be available to local community groups to run on weekends to raise funds for their organisations.
The tram cafe will be a partner attraction to the Diamond Creek Regional Playground which is currently in the design phase having been allocated $2.5 million from the Andrews Labor Government’s Growing Suburbs Fund.
The tram is the fourth to leave the Newport Workshops following an expression of interest process last year to give Victoria’s retired trams a new home.
The Diamond Creek Rotary Club, Country Fire Authority and the local Men’s Shed supported for the tram to be re-homed locally.
Local communities are given the opportunity to give a new home to predominantly W-Class trams that have been retired from the network. More than 1,500 applications were received to re-home the retired trams.
Around 130 trams were available, with the process to move all trams from Newport expected to take around two years. The first tram to depart the workshops went to the set of TV drama series Neighbours, where it is promoting Melbourne to an international audience.
Another two trams crossed the Bass Strait to Launceston in Tasmania, where they will be refurbished to become food trucks as part of a new precinct in the city.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Public Transport Melissa Horne
“It’s fantastic to see another retired tram given a new lease on life after being stored in the dusty Newport Workshops for nearly three decades.”
“We are gifting these retired trams to Victorian community, museum, and public organisations, including schools, while also covering the cost of relocating them to their new homes.”
Quotes attributable to Member for Yan Yean Danielle Green
“The arrival of this retired tram is a credit to the hard work and great ideas of a number of local community groups, including the Diamond Creek Rotary Club, Country Fire Authority and Men’s Shed.”
Quotes attributable to Member for Eltham Vicki Ward
“Once the tram is refurbished, it will become an iconic landmark for the local community to enjoy.”
More information
View the original media release
Visit the Reinventing Trams webpage
