Hello, I'm Simon Calder, welcoming you to my independent travel podcast, bringing you the latest news on travelling, whether you're just dreaming of a great escape or, as I am, on a fantastic tram ride in Melbourne.

And I'd like to talk about the huge advantages that trams have over pretty much any other form of urban transport.

And why Melbourne is actually probably one of the greatest places outside Germany, say, for travelling by tram.

Trams are terrific for going into a new city because unlike buses, you know pretty well where they are going to go.

You're not going to suddenly get caught out because it will become clear where you are going.

The pace is good. Generally they tend to be faster than buses.

They're also much cleaner, unless you're talking about electric buses. And furthermore, they

don't jolt around so much. They're basically just going straight forward. They have plenty

of natural lights. They have lots of big windows. I'm sitting at the front of

number 12 tram here and it's a joy. And unlike, of course, the underground system, you get to see

everything. I'm just looking up at towering apartment blocks, skyscrapers. The centre of Melbourne is really very, very impressive.

And furthermore, I've had a lovely ride in from St Kilda out on the Port Phillip Bay,

going past lots of lovely Art Deco buildings and some beautiful Victorian ironwork.

And it is a joyful trip, a really nice journey for most of the other people on my tram.

It's just what they do all day, but it's a really special way to see a city. Of course you've got to figure out the

ticketing system. Unlike Sydney's very new and very good light rail system which is

basically just a posh tram. Here you've actually got to get a Mikey card, MI-K-I-I,

and then you are able to just tap in and out or tap in actually and then it computes your fare for you.

But it's a bit of a fath because you've got to preload it. Nobody takes cash. Just going here over the

Yarra River and looking left and right to see one of the finest city skylines anywhere. It's

funny, lovely Melbourne doesn't have a standout sight.

They've actually made a few attempts at having one, but it doesn't work.

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