In 1972 Rupert Hamer became Premier of Victoria, promising new trams, which had been highlighted as needed in the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan.
Melbourne | University of Melbourne | tram | Melbourne Cricket Ground | South Melbourne | Melbourne Symphony Orchestra | Melbourne Cup | Gym Class Heroes | Melbourne Storm | class action | Melbourne Football Club | class | Russell Street, Melbourne | Melbourne Grammar School | North Melbourne | Melbourne Airport | William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne | Tram | Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit | Class A | working class | Scotch College, Melbourne | Austin Hospital, Melbourne | Swanston Street, Melbourne | Port Melbourne | Melbourne, Florida | Flinders Street, Melbourne | DB Class 218 | Class War | British Rail Class 37 |
Comeng had expected an extension to the Z-class order, and in the early 1980s drew up plans for a Z4-class, due to a change in state government in 1982 these plans were put on hold.
They are being built at Bombardier's Dandenong factory with local design input, with propulsion systems and bogies coming from Bombardier’s German factories in Mannheim and Siegen respectively.
A temporary light rail system for demonstration purposes, with just 2 stations, was built in the Central Park in 2004, using Melbourne D2 Tram cars from Siemens.