Tram catches fire in Melbourne's CBD Crews inspect the damaged tram on Swanston Street. A TRAM carrying four passengers caught fire in Melbourne's CBD last night. Fire crews were called to the corner of Swanston St and La Trobe St just before midnight when smoke started to fill a tram outside RMIT University. Acting Sen-Sgt Mark Van Rooyen said the tram driver quickly stopped the tram and evacuated the passengers, none of whom were injured. The driver had noticed sparks starting under the tram before the interior began to fill with smoke. "It was really smoking at one stage," Sen-Sgt Van Rooyen said. The MFB's Andrew Barratt said a fault inside the tram's battery system caused the blaze. "It's had a power surge out which popped the overhead wires and set fire to the tram," he told 3AW. Fire crews extinguish the blaze. The tram's battery may have started the fire. MFB spokesman Ian Morris said the fire was controlled within about 15 minutes. But it took about two hours to fully extinguish as firefighters had to pull apart carriages to get to source of blaze. Flames caused significant damage underneath the tram, while a live wire also fell down and created more sparks on the road as cars drove past. Blake Condon said he was at Little Lonsdale St bar Father's Office, which overlooks Swanston St, when he saw smoke coming from the tram. "There was a massive spark and a lot of smoke," he said. The fire was in the undercarriage first, then it spread into the cabin. There were a lot of flames.