1887

Sydney was once an intricate connection of tram lines; in fact, it was one of the world’s great tram cities. At its peak, Sydney’s tram network was the largest in Australia and the second largest in the Commonwealth, making it one of the largest in the world. In the 1930s, it had around 1,600 tram cars in operation.

The Bondi Tram line was an important part of the rise in beach leisure, but it is also the birthplace of the saying 'To shoot through like a Bondi Tram'. The phrase means to depart in haste and refers to express trams which ran through Paddington from 1887. Given that trams cannot pass each other and that Bondi only had a single line, trams were scheduled to leave the city in pairs with an express tram traveling first. At Darlinghurst, the front tram would 'shoot through' to Bondi Junction where it would catch up with an earlier tram.

Even though the Bondi tramline has been dismantled, the phrase remains in use today.

Images courtesy the Waverley Library Local Studies Collection.