Submitted by the map’s creator, who says:

After having tried for a long time to find a schematic route map for Sydney’s historical tram network without any success, I decided that the only option was to make one myself. This was a particularly tricky task as all of the maps I could find online showed only the tram tracks, but not how the routes functioned. After many hours going through many different websites, trying to figure out the different streets the tram tracks were on and drawing up the map, I have come up with the attached map.

Transit Maps says:

I’ve previously featured VoomMaps’ map of the maximum extent of railways in New South Wales (May 2015, 3.5 stars), and here’s another map in the same vein. Basically, it’s a “what if?” map, showing how Sydney’s tram network might look if every tram line that ever existed was still in place. (There are two exceptions: the two old spur lines to the Milsons Point and McMahons Point ferries have been superceded by the direct routes over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.)

It’s important to note that the route numbers are the author’s own invention, grouping trams by destination. Sydney trams never had route numbers: destinations were shown by name, sometimes supplemented by a coloured “flag” on the blind.

The map is nicely executed, and it’s very interesting to see how many of the southern suburb lines are separated from the main system, acting as feeder lines to the suburban railways instead. The Northern Beaches trams were also always separate, with The Spit proving an impassable location – ferry service linked the trams on either side until the Manly trams closed in 1938.

I like the way that the routes all collapse into combined trunk lines in the CBD, which definitely helps to simplify things. The list of city terminuses to the top left is also very helpful.

A couple of minor things: Cronulla is shown as being an awfully long way from the coast (the tram station at Shelly Park was just steps away from the beach), and I personally find the crinkly harbour shoreline a little too detailed for my liking – I think it could be simplified just a little more to better match the schematic look of the map. Is it practicable to add start and end dates (where known) for lines? That would certainly add an extra layer of historical information to the map.

Still, overall this map is superbly researched and beautifully drawn. Four stars.