The last Sydney tram ran on 25 February 1961 from Hunter Street to La Perouse (along much of the same route now being rebuilt), packed to the rafters and greeted by crowds of people, before it joined the dismal procession to “burning hill” at Randwick.

The original, massive Sydney tram network officially stopped running on February 25, 1961, when the last tram ran from Hunter Street to La Perouse. At its peak in the 1920s and 30s, Sydney had the largest tram system in the Southern Hemisphere and the second largest in the British Commonwealth after London, with over 1,600 cars in service. The system was dismantled in favor of buses, which were viewed at the time as a more modern and flexible alternative to fixed-rail transport. However, this was not the permanent end for trams in Sydney. A "new era" of light rail began in 1997 with the opening of the Inner West Light Rail (L1). Since then, the city has seen a major resurgence in tram travel with the opening of the L2 and L3 lines along George Street in the CBD, effectively returning trams to the very streets they were removed from over 60 years ago, albeit with modern, high-capacity light rail vehicles rather than the classic wooden "toastrack" trams of the past.