Why route 96 takes the crown for city’s busiest service
Melbourne is home to the world’s largest operational tram network, carrying more than 200 million passengers each year. But have you ever wondered which route is the most popular?
Tram passenger data accessed Age It shows the monthly passenger numbers on 22 of the city’s 24 tram lines between January 2019 and June 2025.
Route 96 takes the crown as Melbourne’s busiest service. Patronage numbers for the route from St Kilda Beach to East Brunswick have consistently risen above one million people per month since September 2022.
The 96 passes through high-density residential areas in Melbourne’s inner north, much of which is inaccessible by train, and stops at popular attractions such as Bourke Street Shopping Centre, Crown Casino, MSAC and Melbourne Museum; This may be why it is the most congested.
Other popular services include routes 109 and 86, which are among the longest routes, as well as routes 58 and 19, which both stop near the University of Melbourne and pass through the CBD.
Katya Finnegan is primarily a train user, but she uses tram 96 between work and university. He said the journey was generally efficient, but the design of Class E trams meant people often closed the doors.
“When someone is trying to get off, no one is getting off, so I guess that makes them feel even busier,” Finnegan said.
For Petra and Matthew, who came on holiday from Germany and did not want to give their surnames, the 96 tram was busier than other routes they had travelled.
“I feel stuck most of the time. [rather] walk!” said Matthew.
Comparatively, route 82 is Melbourne’s quietest tram. Serving a short distance of 6 miles between Footscray and Moonee Ponds, the facility’s patronage hovers around 100,000 people a month.
Tram 82 is one of only two services based entirely outside the Melbourne CBD, along with route 78 between North Richmond and Balaclava. 78 is also among the quietest tram services, like routes 57 and 64.
Yudha Korwa, who lives in Melbourne’s west and regularly uses tram 82 as part of her commute, said she was surprised by the tram’s low patronage rates.
He has several local transportation options, including two bus routes, but prefers to use the tram because the route is more direct.
“The tram is more [safe]. It is very easy to get to the train station,” said Korwa.
Talia Dalipis was a regular on the 82 trolley in high school, but this time she’s going to Highpoint Mall.
He said the service was often full of students outside school hours because Footscray High School and Maribyrnong College were close to the stops.
“It’s pretty cold during the day… But it definitely gets really crowded in the mornings and afternoons,” Dalipis said.
Tram passenger numbers are calculated by counting the number of people who board the tram service and swipe their myki cards. This is then cross-referenced Automatic Vehicle Tracking data to provide a final estimate.
Passenger numbers were not available for tram routes 30 and 35 as passenger numbers were affected by the placement of the CBD in the free tram zone.
Tram patronage unsurprisingly plummeted during Melbourne’s COVID lockdowns, when use of public transport was limited. Many of these numbers are now trending towards pre-pandemic levels.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Transport and Planning said a number of tram timetable changes have been introduced on most routes following the last lockdown period in 2021.
As more people turn to remote working, feedback from passengers has shown that demand for trams during the morning rush hour has decreased. Instead, they said, there is a new emphasis on increasing services on weekends, evenings and during large events.
The spokesman also acknowledged that tram use is increasing and there is a possibility of timetable changes in the future.
“Patronage continues to increase and we will monitor services and make adjustments as travel patterns evolve,” they said.
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