School in a tram

A retired W-Class tram will be given a new lease of life, with Thorpdale Primary School successful in its application to restore it as a classroom.

Tyers Primary School, Park Lane Holiday Park in Traralgon and Big4 Yarra Valley in Healesville were also successful in their applications to give an iconic W-Class tram a new home, with the holiday parks to redevelop the trams for accommodation.

The trams are four of the 96 to be allocated following an expression of interest process ran by VicTrack over recent months. The trams had been retired from the network over the past 30 years.

As part of the expression of interest process more than 1500 applications were received from across Australia and overseas, with many great ideas put forward on how to bring a tram back to life.

Applicants had to demonstrate that their tram would benefit the community, be accessible to the public or promote the state. They were also asked to outline how they would repurpose and maintain the tram to ensure it remained in a good condition.

Member for Eastern Victoria Harriet Shing said the state government was proud to have found deserving homes from some of the state’s retired trams.

“I am delighted to see Victoria’s iconic trams come to Gippsland and thank the applicants for all their hard work in putting together such a great application,” she said.

“The trams are sure to be a hit with both locals and visitors alike and will become a focal point for our local area.”

For more information, visit the website victrack.com.au.