Glowing tram back on track

BALLARAT’S night tram will be returning to the tracks as part of the city’s Winter Festival, glowing through the Botanical Gardens precinct.

Attendees can take a ride on the colourfully lit tram, explore the Ballarat Tramway Museum after dark and enjoy a hot chocolate as part of the tram ride ticket.

“This year we are part of the Winter Festival hot chocolate trail so everyone who comes for a ride on the tram will be given a hot chocolate on board,” Peter Waugh, facilities manager at the Ballarat Tramway Museum said.

“It might be cold and miserable out there, but we will be all huddled up in the tram with our rugs and blankets and a hot chocolate.”

The colourfully lit tram harks back to 1938 when the first lit tram travelled around Ballarat’s streets.

“That was for a celebration of the turning on of Ballarat’s electric street lighting,” Mr Waugh said.

“They decorated a Ballarat tram with 1,000 light globes and they ran it up and down the streets at night.

“We are probably just continuing a tradition that goes right back to the 1930s.”

Mr Waugh said travelling by tram at night has a different feel to taking a trip during daylight hours.

“The first time we ran the tram I night I was blown away by what it was like to be in the gardens at night, in the dark,” he said.

“At night there was no traffic, and it was quiet, and we could hear the tram coming from a kilometre away.

“For older Ballarat people they will remember travelling on he trams at night so that will bring back memories.”

The Ballarat Night Tram will run on Friday and Saturday evenings starting Friday, July 11 and ending on Saturday, July 26.

A tram ride ticket and museum entry costs $15 for an adult, $13 for a concession and $7 for a child.

To purchase a ticket, head to bit.ly/43FYN8h.