The Public Transport Corporation was a State Government of Victoria owned corporate body formed under the Transport Act 1983[1] which operated passenger and freight trains, trams and bus services in Victoria, Australia.
The Corporation was also responsible for directly operating some bus services and procuring bus services from private operators. The Public Transport Corporation was established from 1 July 1989 as a result of the passage and commencement of the Transport (Amendment) Act 1989 to manage the responsibilities of the State Transport Authority and the Metropolitan Transit Authority. In suburban Melbourne it traded as "The Met" while in regional Victoria it operated as "V/Line".
The operational rail activities of the corporation were franchised in 1999 by the Kennett Government through the intermediary of a new agency, the Director of Public Transport, a statutory office within the Department of Transport. The Director was required entered into franchise agreements with private rail and tram companies for the on the ground delivery of public transport services. The land and infrastructure assets of the Public Transport Corporation were transferred to another new agency, VicTrack (the Victorian Rail Track Corporation). VicTrack then leased those assets to the Director of Public Transport, which in turned sub leased the assets to the new private operators.
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The Public Transport Corporation was initially established under changes made to the Transport Act 1983 by the Transport (Amendment) Act 1989. The statutory changes abolished the former State Transport Authority and Metropolitan Transit Authority thereby creating the Public Transport Corporation in its place. The functions of the Corporation were an amalgamation of those of its two predecessors. The green and gold livery on vehicles was retained, though with a new "double arrow" logo.
The Public Transport Corporation was subject to the control and general direction of the former Director-General of Transport initially and then later to the Secretary to the Department of Transport and, ultimately, the Minister for Transport. A fourteen-member Public Transport Corporation Board was appointed by the Minister to provide advice to the Chief Executive of the Corporation. The Chief Executive of the Corporation before its responsibilities were assumed by the Director of Public Transport was Ian Dobbs.
Franchising of the Victoria Public Transport Corporation commenced under the Kennett Government of the 1990’s. V/Line was split into Passenger and Freight divisions and “The Met” was divided into “Hillside Trains”, “Bayside Trains”, ”Swanston Trams”, and “Yarra Trams”. These separate bodies were all franchised separately as follows:
The remainder of the functions of the PTC were transferred to Metlink.
Preceded by State Transport Authority |
Passenger rail in Victoria 1989–1999 |
Succeeded by V/Line Passenger |
Freight rail in Victoria 1989–1999 |
Succeeded by Freight Victoria |
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Preceded by Metropolitan Transit Authority |
Railways in Melbourne 1989–1999 |
Succeeded by Connex Melbourne M>Train |
Trams in Melbourne 1989–1999 |
Succeeded by Yarra Trams M>Tram |