A fall on a tram cost a passenger his life. Older riders want change

When Garry Ledger fell on a tram and hit his head last August, there were initially no signs of a major injury.

The 78-year-old South Australian had just boarded the route 16 service towards the city. He was busy tapping on his myki when the tram accelerated and he fell onto his back.

Initial signs were positive when Ledger arrived at The Alfred hospital. But about three weeks later, he died from medical complications sustained during the fall.

His death has sparked renewed calls for better safety measures across Melbourne’s tram network, particularly for older passengers.

Coroner Ingrid Giles, who released her findings last month into the death, said the incident had shed light on a significant public health and safety issue.

“Older people feeling safe to use trams is critical to their ongoing social connection … In an ageing population, this issue will only become more and more pressing in future years,” Giles wrote.

Data from the Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit – which was referenced in Giles’ report – shows that 129 people were hospitalised following a tram fall between 2020 and 2025. This number is specific to people who, like Ledger, fell while riding trams, rather than while boarding or disembarking.

Among these hospitalisations, 78 per cent of those injured were aged 60 or older.

Neil Rickards, 72, catches a tram along St Kilda Road about four times a week. He doesn’t own a car and relies on public transport to travel.

He agrees that falls and slips while riding pose an issue, particularly for older passengers. On one recent trip, Rickards was also focused on validating his myki when the tram suddenly began to move forward.

“I stumbled and had to grip something. I was just in an unstable position at the time when they took off,” he said

“That’s the most dangerous time … people are trying to tap on, and then [the trams] take off … and the momentum gets them.”

Safety improvements recommended in Giles’ report include the ability for passengers to touch on before boarding the tram, as well as introducing a system at tram stops that alerts drivers when a passenger needs more time to board.

Similar features are in place at newer light-rail networks interstate – including in Sydney and on the Gold Coast.

“Any future upgrades of the tram system should include consideration of key safety features featured in other jurisdictions,” Giles wrote. “Such simple changes have the potential to save lives and prevent serious injury.”

Monash University’s chair of public transport, Graham Currie, said that while a pre-boarding validation system might improve overall safety, it would be too expensive and impractical to introduce to the city’s vast network.

Melbourne has 250 kilometres of tram tracks, which includes more than 1800 stops.

Currie said that while Melbourne’s tram network was generally safe, falls on trams were a persistent issue that particularly affected older passengers.

“There are improvements that could be made and should be made … We have an ageing population, and we need to do better,” he said.

The Monash professor said that there could be potential to introduce pre-boarding readers at some high-volume stops.

Other safety improvements could include placing seating closer to doors, playing new noises that indicate when a tram is about to move – or even maintaining existing free public transport for seniors, which removes the need for older passengers to tap on.

“In many ways, the trams are better … their performance and speed is better, which means their acceleration is more difficult to handle,” Currie said.

“It’s good for most users, but is a tricky issue for others … but I don’t really see stop-based validation as being a practical alternative, given the scale of the network.”

A Yarra Trams spokesperson said that features like pre-boarding ticket validation and boarding assistance alerts were continuing to be explored with the help of the Department of Transport.

The operator currently runs targeted passenger safety campaigns to encourage staying seated or holding on to a support while riding, the spokesperson said, adding that all safety practices are regularly reviewed.

“We’re constantly working to improve network safety for all passengers, particularly older and more vulnerable members of the community,” the spokesperson said.

Rickards said he supported the platform ticket-validation system that is used interstate – which he found useful on a recent trip to Sydney.

“Every time I go on [the tram], there’s usually someone that stumbles or has to quickly grab something as the tram lurches,” he said. “I’m not too sure what else they can really do.”

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