Man vs tram in a race through Adelaide CBD Julian Major took on a tram in a race from Vic Sq to the City West campus and won. Picture: Luke Hemer Source: adelaidenow DESPITE the considerable horsepower of a tram, Julian Major reckons he has proven Shanks' pony beats catching a tram through the city. "A few weeks back, whilst bemoaning the speed of trams in the Adelaide CBD, I made a claim that it's pointless to catch a tram if travelling within town, as I could easily outrun it," he says. My friends stated there was no way I could do this I'm extremely unfit and so we made a bet. Last Friday (January 25), the UniSA worker took on the 5.01pm tram from Victoria Square to the City West campus, taking the same route along King William St and North Tce and obeying pedestrian lights. The 22 year old broke the ribbon at the finish line set up by his friends at 5.08pm, beating the on-time tram by a couple of minutes. He says his heart sank at the start, when the tram took off from Victoria Square while he was stranded at the Grote St pedestrian crossing. "The tram went about 90 seconds earlier," he says. I caught it up about at Hindley St. By the time I got past the tram I slowed down to a jog. The West Lakes resident says the hordes of peak hour commuters getting on the tram slowed it down and gave him an advantage, though he too was hampered by crowds on the footpath. There were times I had to stop almost completely. There were logjams of people. About 15 of his mates were waiting for him at the finish line outside City West, where he works as a research associate at the uni's marketing science institute, before a well earned drink at the World's End pub. One friend who bet he could not beat the tram will donate $100 to disability organisation SCOSA. There were 2.423 million tram boardings in the 2011/12 financial year, down from 2.628 million in 2010/11. A Transport Department spokeswoman said a range of factors affected whether a tram ran on time, including traffic and weather conditions. She said with the introduction of the new Metrocard ticketing system the entire bus and rail network would have GPS tracking technology installed on every vehicle. This will allow for the development of real time passenger information systems for customers as well as highly accurate performance management reporting. For more news on the city, pick up a copy of the City Messenger, read our digital edition online, or become a fan of our Facebook page.