Waking up in Geelong

With the first High Capacity Metro Train having just carried passengers, it is hard to believe that work started on the High Capacity Metro Trains project way back in 2016. Here is a look back at how they got here.

Construction

Design work kicked off in 2017, with a mockup train built for stakeholder consultation, and put on public display in February 2018.

By July 2018 body shells manufactured in China had arrived in Melbourne for final fitout.

With the first completed HCMT train rolled out in October 2018 ready for a political photo op.

In November 2018 this train was transferred from the Downer factory at Newport to the HCMT depot at Pakenham East.

The transfer was made in the dead of night, the untested train towed by diesel locomotives and treated as an unbraked vehicle, with extra wagons added to provide braking effort, and no trains allowed to pass on the parallel tracks.

By October 2019 initial testing at Pakenham East has proven the braking performance, with set 7 allowed to be transferred as a braked vehicle while other trains were still running.

The depot soon started to fill with new trains.

Testing

November 2019 saw the first HCMT run on the Pakenham line under it’s own power.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQXfT9sIv5U
Video by Railways Of Doom – I didn’t make the trip out east to see the tests

With the government deciding to cancel normal services to enable the testing program to be sped up.

Evening services on parts of the busy Pakenham line have been cancelled for much of this week, as officials race to get Melbourne’s new high capacity trains on the track.

The $2.3 billion program is running months behind schedule, with the first of the new trains only recently allowed to leave the Pakenham East depot under its own power.

The train is required to complete 10,000 kilometres of testing on the suburban network, before being accepted into the Metro fleet.

But the government’s contract with builder Evolution Rail requires the first 2,500 kilometres of tests be undertaken between the last service of the day, and the first service the following day.

That’s prompted PTV to cancel services between Dandenong and Pakenham from just after 8pm each evening this week to maximise the test window.

In January 2020 the test program expanded to the Werribee line, where high speed brake testing was carried out.

And in March 2020 a HCMT set was transferred to Upper Ferntree Gully, so that the brakes could be tested on the steep grades of the Belgrave line.

COVID-19 delays

COVID-19 hit Melbourne during 2020, everyone needing to keep their distance.

And wearing face masks.

HCMT set 3 passes through Windsor on the down, with another trip to Elsternwick

Staff working on the HCMT test program were not exempt – a maximum of two people allowed in the cab.

More testing

June 2020 was another milestone, as the HCMT fleet was cleared to run alongside normal passenger services.

Transfers between Newport and Pakenham East also being carried out by day.

But disruptions to normal services were still needed to enable additional testing – night time on the Pakenham line.

Buses replaced trains on the Pakenham line between Pakenham and Dandenong from Friday 3 July until Sunday 5 July to allow for the checks to take place.

The new trains are tested in real-world conditions, including stopping at stations, responding to signals and undergoing speed tests.

They had been running in-between passenger services where possible, but the weekend’s tests required repeated stopping and braking which is not possible during passenger services.

And from mid-afternoon on the Werribee line.

Buses will replace trains between Newport and Werribee stations from 2.45pm to the last service each day from Monday 24 August to Sunday 13 September to enable important safety and performance testing for Melbourne’s new High Capacity Metro Trains.

In September 2020 the first HCMT was tested on the Sunbury line – initially under the cover of darkness, but then between normal passenger services.

While the rest of the Melbourne was tucked away in bed, High Capacity Metro Trains were also sent to unexpected places like Kensington, to prove that the new trains were compatible with legacy infrastructure on the rest of the network.

These tests were expanded in December 2020 to daylight runs between normal services, showing that a passenger carrying HCMT misrouted from the usual Pakenham and Cranbourne lines could safley unload passengers.

Flemington Racecourse to the north.

Burnley in the east.

And Elsternwick on the Sandringham line.

And into service

Back in February 2019 the Evolution Rail consortium was promoting a “mid-2019” date for the first HCMT operational on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines.

By February 2020 the date had been changed to “mid-2020” but after they failed to meet that target, the dates were dropped altogether – entry to service “following completion of comprehensive testing program”.

September 2020 saw a new entry to service date appear – the upcoming December 2020 timetable change, but thanks to delays to the Ballarat Line Upgrade project, the timetable change was bumped to January 2021.

But 2020 is full of surprises, and this was no different – on December 27 HCMT set 11 emerged from Pakenham East to beat the end of 2020 and run an inaugural passenger service, making a single trip to Flinders Street Station and return.

The day was low key, with no special ceremonies to mark the occasion – and little media attention.

Two years late, the first of Melbourne’s $2.3 billion fleet of new high capacity @metrotrains has taken its first fare paying passengers. Pictures @9NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/hf9yJbKBtr

— Andrew Lund (@andrew_lund) December 27, 2020

A gaggle of railfans who found out that the train was running forming the bulk of the passengers.

My main take away – useless doors!

Went for a ride on the new High Capacity Metro Train and my main takeaway is the doors – nobody seemed to be able to open them at stations. 😲

— Marcus Wong (@aussiewongm) December 26, 2020

The new timetable starts on Sunday 31 January 2021. Will we have to wait until then to ride a HCMT train, or will more one-off services run – I don’t know.

A technology related footnote

Goodbye to old fashioned keys – an electronic lock gives access to the cab.

The rollout of the HCMT fleet has also seen something new added between the rails on the approach to each station – these yellow bars.

Part of the Correct Side Door Enable (CSDE) and Selective Door Operation (SDO) systems fitted to the HCMT fleet, these ‘TrackLink III’ beacons tell the onboard computer which side the platform is on, and how many doors to open.

And onboard is a new feature for Melbourne trains – fire doors.

Which will automatically close in an emergency, dividing up the seven car walkthrough train into smoke proof compartments a maximum of two carriages long.

Further reading

Max Thum also rode the first public HCMT service – here is his review of the passenger experience.

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