The gunzels’ grand final: Melbourne Tramaroos’ campaign derails at European TramDriver Championship

It’s the grand final for gunzels. But despite having one of the largest tram networks in the world, Melbourne’s Tramaroos finished second last at this year’s European TramDriver Championship, just ahead of London.

The event, held in Warsaw on Saturday, saw 26 teams compete across a series of demanding tasks, inspired – to varying degrees – by tram drivers’ day-to-day work.

In smooth stop and go, drivers travelled with a bowl of water attached to the front of the tram – with points deducted for every drop spilled. Other precision tasks involved speed control at 25 km/h, target braking, tram bowling, lateral distance, basketball, a perfect stop with the second door, and a reverse ride guided by whistle commands.

Daniel Bowen, a spokesperson for the Public Transport Users Association, said it was “an unusual event in the pantheon of world sports”.

“It’s pretty entertaining,” he said, and an opportunity to look for inspiration from great other tram systems around the world. “Everyone looked like they were having a great time.”

This year’s title went to Vendula Tmejová and Zdeněk Rychtář, from Prague, in the Czech Republic.

In 2022, Australia was the first ever non-European country chosen to participate. This year, Yarra Trams sent Ivan Cavanagh of Southbank depot and Claudia Barrientos from Kew depot to compete as the “Tramaroos”. Had they won, the trophy would have gone “straight to the pool room”, Cavanagh said.

“You would hope our team would do well but I’m sure there’s pretty stiff competition against you know the Europeans,” Bowen said. “Perhaps it’s a bit like Eurovision – it’s great to participate.”

Thousands of fans followed the spectacle live in Warsaw, with about 80,000 viewers worldwide watching the competition via livestream.

Melbourne is set to host the next event in 2027.

Bowen said it would be interesting to see if other Australian cities joined the competition, given recent extensions to light rail systems in Adelaide, Sydney, Canberra and the Gold Coast.

“Back in Melbourne, it’s a reminder that trams do form a vital part of the transport system. We do have the biggest tram network in the world, but there’s more to do in terms of accessibility and on-road priority and service frequency.”