Last weekend was the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix in the heart of the city at Albert Park. For four days the city's tram network was dedicated to the event. Few routes, especially to the south east, were unaffected and regular travellers who might complete a journey on one tram had to use as many as three trams or buses. Some routes were fully or partially replaced by buses and extra buses and coaches were deployed on services dedicated to linking the Crown casino and hotel complex to the Park. A few of the Bombardier E class trams had appeared in advert wraps for the first time for the Australian Open tennis tournament back in January, but that was small beer compared to the Bombardier adverts wraps for the Grand Prix. E2 class car 6065 is seen here in a wrap for Mastercard and McLaren. It is on the 96 route which normally links St Kilda with East Brunswick, the section from the city to St Kilda Station is on a dedicated former train line. The line runs the length of Albert Park so a high frequency service was maintained between Southern Cross Station and the Park gates. The section between St Kilda and Southern Cross required a replacement bus service and beyond to East Brunswick trams were available from Southern Cross. On the other side of the Park along St Kilda Road routes 3, 5, 6, 16, 58, 64, 67 and 72 were all disrupted. A high frequency Grand Prix service ran from Swanston Street in the city through to Windsor, serving Grand Prix gates along the east side of the Park. All the regular services were rearranged, some with the help of bus services. At Windsor the 5 and 64 served a temporary terminus, but did not proceed to the city. Indeed the service towards the city from Malvern (5) and East Brighton (64) met at the junction of the two routes, swapped passengers and only one tram continued to Windsor where passengers had to transfer again to the Grand Prix service along St Kilda Road. There is some irony here as the normal 5 and 64 services are scheduled abominably, both are on a basic ten minute frequency but are invariably a minute apart and trail each other all the way into the city - and back! Rescheduling could offer a five minute frequency or the "Grand Prix solution" could turn the 64 into a shuttle from the current junction to East Brighton saving resources and manpower. Another disrupted route was the cross city 12, usually the preserve of the smaller A class trams. The route was supplemented by several 12a Bombardier duplicates from the North Park entrance to Southern Cross Station.
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