Editing Trams in Melbourne (section)

====North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Company====
[[File:NMETL first tram.jpg|thumb|right|First North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Co tram on opening day]]
The [[List of defunct utility companies in Victoria, Australia#The North Melbourne Electric Tramways and Lighting Company|North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Company]] (NMETL) was an electricity and tramway company that operated from 1906 to 1922.<ref name="A brief history of the North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Company">{{cite web |url=http://www.hawthorntramdepot.org.au/papers/nmetl.htm |title=A brief history of the North Melbourne Electric Tramway & Lighting Company |author=Russell Jones |year=2005 |work=Friends of Hawthorn Tram Depot |access-date=4 January 2012 |archive-date=24 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424231907/http://www.hawthorntramdepot.org.au/papers/nmetl.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The tramway section was taken over by the MMTB on 1 August 1922 and the electricity section taken over by the [[State Electricity Commission of Victoria]] in 1922.<ref name="Between the Wars">{{cite web |url=http://www.yarratrams.com.au/about-us/our-history/tramway-milestones/between-the-wars/ |work=[[Yarra Trams]] |title=Between the Wars |access-date=26 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102235108/http://www.yarratrams.com.au/about-us/our-history/tramway-milestones/between-the-wars/ |archive-date=2 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.access.prov.vic.gov.au/public/component/daPublicBaseContainer?component=daViewAgency&entityId=1002# |work=[[Public Record Office Victoria]] |title=State Electricity Commission of Victoria (previously known as the Electricity Commissioners) |access-date=4 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091006194727/http://www.access.prov.vic.gov.au/public/component/daPublicBaseContainer?component=daViewAgency&entityId=1002 |archive-date=6 October 2009 }}</ref>

The Victorian Government of Sir Thomas Bent approved an application by Mr Morgan to build a tramway system in the Essendon area on 29 March 1904, with a poll of ratepayers overwhelming supporting the proposition on 29 July 1904 (2874 votes to 146). Mr Morgan transferred the concession to the NMETL, which had been formed to build the system and provide electricity to the area. Under the concession the NMETL was to construct a tramway and provide electricity within the municipalities of Essendon and Flemington for 30 years, it also mandated a service at least every 20 minutes and had provisions for the undertaking to become property of the municipalities involved earlier than the prescribed 30 years.<ref name="A Brief History of... The North Melbourne Electric Tramways and Lighting Company Limited">{{cite web |url=http://www.tramway.org.au/reflections.php?p=a_brief_history_of_the_north_melbourne_electric_tramways_and_lighting_company_limited |title=A Brief History of... The North Melbourne Electric Tramways and Lighting Company Limited |author=K. S. Kings |date=October 1966 |work=[[Tramway Museum Society of Victoria|TMSV]] Running Journal |access-date=4 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424011139/http://www.tramway.org.au/reflections.php?p=a_brief_history_of_the_north_melbourne_electric_tramways_and_lighting_company_limited |archive-date=24 April 2012 }}</ref>

The NMETL bought land on [[Mount Alexander Road]] for its offices, car barn and power house, with the foundation stone laid by the Mayors of Essendon and Flemington on 24 May 1905, and the first rail laid a month later by Premier Bent. The system opened on 11 October 1906 operating two routes from Flemington Bridge—one to Essendon via Mount Alexander Road, [[Pascoe Vale Road]], Fletcher Street and onto Mount Alexander Road again (with a short branch line along Puckle Street), and the second to Saltwater River via Mount Alexander Road, Victoria Street, Racecourse Road, Epsom Road, Union Road and Maribyrnong Road. The system was approximately {{convert|7|mi|km|1|abbr=on}} and was operated by 25 motor cars and 10 trailers.<ref name="A Brief History of... The North Melbourne Electric Tramways and Lighting Company Limited"/>