MELBOURNE: Passengers escape burning tram

Four passengers were rushed off a tram as it caught on fire in Melbourne’s CBD overnight, sending smoke billowing into the night.

The Metropolitan Fire Brigade was called to the corner of Swanston and La Trobe streets just before midnight on Wednesday after smoke began to fill a tram.

MFB spokesman John Taylor said none of the four passengers were injured, and that all passengers got off the tram safely.

It took fire crews about two hours to recharge the overhead electrical wires and get the tram back in working order, he said.

Mr Taylor said there was little that could catch fire on a tram, because they were connected to overhead electrical wires and ran on batteries.

Victoria Police spokeswoman Kendra Jackson said police were not treating the fire as suspicious.

Yarra Trams spokesman Simon Murphy said that when the driver noticed the route 67 tram ‘‘behaving unusually’’, he got out to check and saw smoke rising from underneath the tram.

‘‘We do commend the driver for getting the passengers off-board quickly and safely,’’ Mr Murphy said.

Yarra Trams is investigating.