A small fleet continue to operate on the tramway network of Melbourne, Australia, where they are used on the City Circle tourist route.

The W-class tram is a cultural icon to Melbourne: those that remain in the city are classified by the National Trust of Australia.

A number of older variants have been withdrawn from service and later sent to cities such as Copenhagen, San Francisco, Savannah and Seattle, and by private enthusiasts.

They had a dual bogie layout and were characterised by a substantial timber frame supplanted by a steel underframe, a simple rugged design, and fine craftsmanship (particularly the older models).

After this came the SW5, initially only the last ten W5 trams fitted with sliding doors before entering service, but by the 1990s the majority of the W5 fleet, having been upgraded.

The SW6 followed on, and became the most popular W-class tram with crews and passengers alike, because they were fast, smooth and comfortable, compared with earlier W variants.

After experimentation with a PCC streetcar, construction of Ws resumed in 1951, with more SW6 and later W6 and the final 40 W-class trams (W7) emerging from Preston Workshops by 1956, when the need to provide something more capable of dealing with Olympic Games crowds than Bourke Street's buses prompted the last expansion of the network.

In April 1971, W7 1024 became the first tram to carry all over advertising livery when it was painted for the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, followed by Heinz (June 1971), Preston Market (August 1971), and Channel 0 (October 1971).

This left only the upgraded sliding door W-class trams, modernised from 2013 onwards, which were designated the W8 class.

Protests over the disappearing icons brought about a reconsideration of the withdrawal policy, and it was decided 53 Ws would be retained for tourist purposes.

[9] The condition of the W-class fleet was criticised by the Australian Rail Tram & Bus Industry Union in September 2008, with a demand for the State Government to repair or withdraw them.

[13] It was also proposed that unused W-class trams could be better utilised by refurbishing and leasing them as "roving ambassadors" to other cities, with the claim that this could generate revenue for investment into the public transport system.

[14] Following a change in government, in May 2011 $8 million over four years was allocated for the restoration of eight W-class trams, with options for new routes to be considered.

The tram, which is owned by the Edmonton Radial Railway Society, operates as part of the High Level Bridge Streetcar fleet, connecting Old Strathcona to Downtown on 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) of track.

A highly modified W class tram began running in 2009 along River Street in Savannah, Georgia, its AC motors powered by biodiesel-fueled generators.

[31][32] In 2005, W6 965 was restored at a cost of $25,000 and given as a wedding present from the Victorian Government to Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.

Shipping line Maersk transported the tram to Denmark free of charge, waiving the estimated bill of $40,000.

[34][35] In October 2016, the government announced the formation of a reference group to formulate a strategy for the over 237 in store at Newport Workshops.

[36] In 2018, the results of the condition audit were published as part of the Daniel Andrews State Government's Retired Trams Strategy.

[39] The first two W-Class trams to leave Newport Workshop under the process were acquired by the City of Launceston in Tasmania in 2019 to be restored and used in a public space.

[42] Some were also built by private companies including James Moore & Sons of South Melbourne, and Holden Body Builders of Adelaide.

Towards the end of their useful lives, many class members were converted to service (non-passenger) stock such as carborundum rail scrubbers, permanent-way vehicles, railgrinders and breakdown units.

A large number of units were also sold to museums and public transport operators in Australia and around the world, with some still running today.

[45][46] The last W2 to run in regular service in Melbourne ran in December 1987 on route 93 La Trobe Street to Bundoora, although a small number were used well into the early 1990s during extended tram shortages.

[50]: 32  These larger wheels made the tram body sit higher, and the floors in the drop centre were ramped to reduce the step into the saloon.

They had wider bodies, based on the previous W4-class, but utilised electrical equipment recovered from scrapped Maximum Traction C class trams (hence the "C" prefix).

From the early 1970s, many cars had their little-used, narrow centre doorways panelled-over, and most had their original windshields replaced with SW6-class types, which had "swept corners" with half-drop side windows, but not all of them received the deeper fascia.

Parts from the cancelled order for more W7-class trams were used in the repairs, and the two cars featured half-drop saloon windows, with quarter lights.

[54][55] However, nine W5 and three SW5 trams are preserved with heritage tramways in Australia and New Zealand, including a fully restored W5, number 774, on display at Hawthorn Depot.

The rebuild radically altered the appearance of the tram and the National Trust ordered the conversion be suspended before completion.