Adelaide / Glenelg Tram

Prepurchase your tickets! Machines are ridiculously slow and don’t take notes — stupid considering how recent they were installed!

This is a wonderful ride. Best way to do the trip to Glenelg from the city is to park at the Entertainment Centre as it is $ 4 all day. But there is a concern when buying ticket on the Tram is you ca’t buy multiply ticket for a family. Each member has to be pay separately. What a hassle when there are alot of people waiting behind you to buy a ticket. If it is difficult for locals to buy tickets how hard is it for tourists.

Ding! Ding! Time to jump on the tram for a reliable source of transport in Adelaide that is eco-​friendly, cheap (make sure you grab a Metrocard from the suitable retailers everyone!) and 99.7% of the time is on time! Yay for those people who live on the tram line &/​or like to go round the places they service. Whee !!!

The best thing living in my area? The tram!
The tram is the easiest way to head to the city or Glenelg! Since moving to Plympton I have never caught so much public transport. Where our «home stop» is, is within the 2 section, section where a one way trip is only $ 2.90 beats the $ 18 odd dollars for a cab.
Depending of the time of day it can be full, just like any other public transport but at that price I don’t mind standing for 15 minutes. The trams are pretty regular, more regular than buses and move quicker not having to deal with traffic!
I am yet to invest in a metrocard, that’s on my to-​do list. I don’t know much about them but they look simple and easy to use without having to carry coins to put in the ticket machine, although the new high-​tech machines take EFT cards!

The one time I’ll tell you not to walk in Adelaide is when I’m telling you to catch the tram.
The tram is an icon of Adelaide that has ironically been fitted out with brand spanking new lines and carriages (don’t get an Adelaidian started on that little quandary).
These things are now air conditioned, have free wi-​fi, an automated metro card and pay machine system and run more regularly than the bus system (again don’t get me started).
My one issue is if you have a friend who gets car sick they’re probably not going to enjoy the journey. The trams are now wrapped in all sorts of advertising that means although they are beautiful on the outside, you cannot see a damn thing looking from the inside out.
For $ 3 a ticket one way to Glenelg (and return if you come back within 2 hours) this is a fine method of transport to Adelaide’s south-​ish suburbs.

Adelaide used to have a litany of trams running all over the city. From the centre of the city you could ride out north, south, east and west on a rattly old tram in relative comfort, so I’m told. Alas, they paved over all the tram lines in a move designed to free up the roads for the ballooning number of cars in town. It was a massive oversight and now we’re left with one tram line in the whole city, but it’s a bloody good one.
I live right on the tram line in Goodwood and I wouldn’t give this one up for the world. The buses running down my way are normally terribly late if they arrive at all, but the tram is so frequent and punctual that I don’t even check the timetable to see when it’s coming. I just walk out and wait no longer than a quarter of an hour and I’m on my way to the beach or town.
My only criticism of the tram is to how packed they get during peak hour. It’s no fun at all to jump on board with the gaggle of students and commuters on a hot day. Yet, this only speaks volumes for it’s popularity and convenience.

After driving in Melbourne, when they said that the tram line was going to be extended the smiles fell and my happy face was no more.
Yes, the road works were irritating if I was driving somewhere in the city, especially at peak hour, but now that it’s done, I have absolutely no complaints. In fact, this is probably the least irritating version of public transport that exists in Adelaide, you don’t get stuck behind it, it doesn’t pull out on you and it doesn’t take a million years to cross an intersection, thumbs up from an angry drivers point of view.
If you live along the tramline you’ve got to be cheering, so much faster than any other option, aside from car. So much cheaper than the car option, and you don’t have to find a park, and they’re running all the time. They do get pretty packed though, and I have noticed that where the elderly are concerned, Adelaide people can often be reluctant to give up their seat, especially the teenage youth.

The Adelaide to Glenelg tramline is an iconic South Australian Attraction.
It is funny that we should be so proud of our state’s sole remaining tramline, but it is as much a part of our local identity as the pie floater and Farmers Union Iced Coffee.
The tram has been running since 1909 and the current route travels from the Entertainment Centre, in Hindmarsh, located in the close North-​West suburbs, through the city and down to Glenelg, on the coast. Since 2006 new trams have joined the histiric rattlers which now only seem to run at set times on the weekend.
During the week trams run to glenelg approximately every 15 minutes with a free shuttle tram (south terrace to north terrace) running between these times. All travel within the city square mile is currently free. On the weekend I believe the frequency of trams going to Glenelg drops to approximately every half hour. You can purchase your ticket on the tram, as there is still a conductor on board but make sure you have a small note, or coins as they don’t carry a lot of change. It is also possible to pre-​purchase tickets from newsagents and convenience stores where you see a ‘metro ticket’ flag. If you are a local, or will be in the city for a while it is cheaper to purchase a multi-​trip, which has 10 trips on it and is valid for all buses, trains and trams.
The tram is popular with tourist and locals alike, so be prepared to make like a sardine during peak hours.