Metro Trains Melbourne

Metro Trains Melbourne has a drive through for suburban trains beside their stabling facility at Melbourne Yard.

And another at the Epping Workshops.

At the Craigieburn Train Maintenance Facility the train wash is a little different – it’s a six carriage long shed, and the wash unit moves along the length of the stopped train.

While the Pakenham East depot has a train wash dedicated to the fleet of High Capacity Metro Trains that operate out of the site.

V/Line

Meanwhile V/Line has a train wash at the Carriage Maintenance Depot on Dudley Street.

But these days it is mostly used to stable rolling stock that doesn’t fit into the constrained yard.

Leaving their train wash at Geelong their main washing facility.

The train wash receiving recycled water tanks in 2008, after being taken out of service during the millennium drought due to water restrictions.

Biowash sheds

A standard train wash can only clean the grime from the sides of a train – they won’t get rid of the blood and guts from an animal strike.

So bio-wash facilities are required so that staff can get under the train and blast them clean. The facility at South Dynon was the first.

Biowash shed outside the back of

And in 2021 a second one opened at Bendigo at a cost of $7.9 million.

And the old fashioned way

You’ll also sometimes find staff washing down suburban trains by hand.

Diesel locomotives.

And carriage windows.

It’s also how railway heritage groups keep their trains looking shiny and clean.

My mates busy with the soap and buckets, while I was distracted by my camera.

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Track evaluation vehicle IEV100

IEV100 is a track evaluation vehicle that traverses the Victorian railway network to test track quality. Self propelled with a diesel engine, and with the option to use standard or broad gauge bogies, this Plasser & Theurer EM100 track recorder was acquired by V/Line in the 1980s, passing to VicTrack following privatisation the 1990s.

It was then overhauled by Metro Trains Melbourne in 2012, with the original mechanical measurement wheels being replaced by a modern non-contact laser measurement system.

IEV100 was once capable of measuring the overhead contract wires, but the pantograph was removed around 2015.

Overhead inspection carriage IEV102

IEV102 is an overhead inspection carriage used across the Melbourne suburban network, converted from a retired V/Line passenger carriage in 2010, following a spate of overhead wire failures.

From a glass cupola atop the carriage, staff and video cameras onboard the carriage monitor how the pantograph tracks along the overhead wire.

Initially the carriage was hauled around the network by a pair of Metro Trains Melbourne’s T class locomotives, but from 2018 Southern Shorthaul Railroad took over the job.

In October 2021 further changes happened, when a laser instrumented pantograph was installed atop the carriage, automating the collection of data.

‘AK’ track recording cars

The AK cars are a set of three specially equipped ex-NSWGR carriages fitted out for track inspection purposes. They are operated by the Australian Rail Track Corporation over their standard gauge lines behind hired motive power a few times each year.

Video cameras are mounted to the front of the train.

Wide inspection windows at the end of each carriage.

Laser track measurement equipment beneath one of the carriages.

And an accommodation carriage for the crew on their long journey across Australia.

Evaluation vehicle EV120 ‘Evie’

EV120 is a Geismar model RB2214TM locomotive hauled track and overhead inspection vehicle for the Victorian broad gauge rail network, acquired in 2021 to replace overhead inspection carriage IEV102 and track inspection vehicle IEV100.

It has laser track measurement equipment attached to each bogie.

A pantograph on the roof.

And forward facing camera fitted to locomotives that haul it.

Southern Shorthaul Railroad currently provides diesel locomotives and crews to haul it around the network.

Ultrasonic rail flaw detection

Speno Rail Maintenance Australia operates a fleet of hi-rail Ultrasonic rail flaw detection trucks, which appear in Victoria from time to time.

The hi-rail truck tows an ultrasonic sensor array, scanning the steel rails for microscopic flaws.

With a second crew following behind to mark any issues with paint.

LIDAR and ground penetrating radar

In 2019 and 2020 V/Line completed an ad-hoc survey of their network using a variety of hired test equipment strapped to a surplus diesel locomotive.

The first survey used LIDAR measure equipment, a NovAtel GPS receiver, and 360 degree camera equipment to create a digital map of the network.

And was followed up by a ground penetrating radar system supplied by Zetica Rail to measure trackbed condition, including ballast depth, fouling and roughness.

Further reading

• V/Line and Metro argue over IEV100 – The Age
• Lidar capture onboard the AK Cars – Cordel
• Rail Radar System, Trackbed Evaluation and Maintenance – Zetica Rail
• Onboard the AK Cars – RTSA SA Chapter newsletter
• Introduction to Rail Flaw Detection – Nordco

More photos

• IEV100 track evaluation vehicle
• Overhead inspection carriage IEV102
• ‘AK’ track recording cars
• Evaluation vehicle EV120
• Speno ultrasonic rail flaw detector
• V/Line corridor mapping project

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Road–rail vehicles

Many different kinds of road–rail vehicle exist, ready to assist with every kind of construction or maintenance task.

Trucks to transport materials to work sites.

Some able to drag a ‘train’ of wagons.

Excavators for digging.

Lifting.

Tamping ballast.

Unloading sleepers.

And laying them.

Big tip trucks to deliver ballast.

And small.

Piling rigs to bore foundations.

Cranes to put in the overhead stanchions.

Cherrypickers to reach the overhead wires.

Along with boom lifts.

4WDs refitted for weed spraying.

Testing level crossings.

Using ultrasonic sensors to look for rail flaws.

Trucks to chip trees.

And suck up gunk.

Even tunnels aren’t enough to keep them away.

So how do they get onto the tracks?

Traditionally road rail vehicles would just head to the nearest level crossing, turn 90 degrees to line up with the tracks, and lower their rail wheels.

But level crossing removals mean access points are few and far between.

Sometimes gravel will be dumped across the tracks to provide access to a worksite.

Allowing heavy equipment to access the rail corridor.

But the long term solution is “Road Rail Vehicle Access Pads” – level crossings to nowhere.

Essendon received one after the level crossing removal at Buckley Street.

As did the Sunbury line between Ginifer and St Albans station following the upgrades there.

And the brand new Mernda line extension doesn’t have any level crossings, so needed them too.

With the list of locations growing each time a level crossing is removed.

But there’s one problem

Ballast piled up between the rails can cause another problem – derailments.

Prohibition of Ballast Pad Hi-Rail Access Points

On the 9th January, 2019 an incident occurred where a tamper derailed as it passed through a ballast pad. Due to this incident and combined with the inability to inspect the Track Asset beneath the ballast (which is a requirement of the Track Technical Maintenance Plan), a number of measures require implementation.

Effective immediately:
– The construction of new ballast pads is prohibited across the MTM network;
– A plan for the removal of ALL existing ballast pads across the MTM network will be compiled by Infrastructure;
– All new hi-rail access points must have their construction type and methodology agreed by the Track & Structures Delivery Manager for all locations.

And asphalt between the rails makes inspecting the trackbed impossible.

Due to track conditions below the Curtin Street road-rail vehicle access pad at Ch.16.818km between Ginifer and St. Albans, a restriction on the speed of trains has been applied through the affected location.

In order to return train traffic to line speed, Infrastructure are required to remove the asphalt in situ at the RRV pad in order to perform rectification work.

In accordance with L1-CHE-INS-079, MTM Design Practice Note Road-Rail Vehicle Access Pads, section 6. vii. – Infrastructure will not return this RRV pad to an asphalt construction but instead utilise type-approved removable panels.

As the type-approved removable panels require procurement, there will be a period of time between when the geometry rectification works are completed and the access pad is returned to use for RRV access.

The geometry rectification works are planned for 25/08/2019 and the removable panels will be available for installation in late November.

So existing access pads have had to be upgraded.

Using the same rubber panels used at level crossings.

Network upgrades never end!

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Work crews stepping off the tracks when trains approach.

And then get back to work inspecting the tracks once they’ve passed.

But trains have continued running through bigger projects – like the 2009 rebuilding of Laverton station.

Where an entire track was ripped up.

Or the rebuilding of a level crossing in Geelong.

With V/Line trains crawling along to one side.

And freight trains on the other.

Or Regional Rail Rail works at South Kensington.

Each train being stopped by a red flag, allowing the track to be cleared, before a green flag was given to proceed.

But the craziest example I’ve seen was back in 2009 outside Geelong.

The complete trackbed had been dug up and relaid, but no ballast had been laid.

But a steam train headed towards Ballarat was still allowed over the track.

But with the track gang keeping a very close eye on it’s progress.

A similarly crazy movement occurred in 2007, when suburban trains stranded by the Middleborough Road Project were rescued by diesel locomotives travelling on a hastily constructed track through the work site.

Footnote

This video has done the rounds over the years – 1,200 Japanese workers convert above-ground train to subway line in a matter of hours.

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The story starts on February 6, 2016 when a citybound X’Trapolis train came off the tracks at Rushall station.

A metro train has derailed at Fitzroy North. @SebCostello9 is LIVE at the scene in #9NewsAt6 pic.twitter.com/LEMWpGLtGW

— Nine News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) February 6, 2016

From The Age:

The six-carriage city-bound train travelling on the South Morang line was carrying 120 passengers when one of the wheels of a single carriage came off the tracks about 5pm on Saturday evening just 100 metres from Rushall station.

Then only a week later, a second train derailed at the same location.

Metro shut down the line after a track maintenance machine derailed at 11.30pm last night near Rushall station in Fitzroy North. It was the second derailment at that location this week.

The Victorian Office of the Chief Investigator Transport Safety commenced an investigation of the first derailment.

At about 1650 on 6 February 2016, MTM suburban passenger train TD1064 derailed near the Rushall Railway Station in Fitzroy North, Victoria. The leading bogie of the second passenger car derailed resulting in minor damage to the car. One passenger sustained a minor injury.

Just a few days later CEO of Metro Trains Melbourne Andrew Lezala ended up in front of the Standing Committee on Economy & Infrastructure giving evidence at a parliamentary inquiry into the V/Line wheel wear issues.

He had this to say on rail lubrication:

The CHAIR — Just a couple of questions in regard to Metro; obviously we have seen significant wheel wear on V/Line trains, and I have certainly heard speculation that there has been greater than expected wheel wear on Metro trains. Is that something that has been evident through the maintenance that Metro have been doing on their trains?

Mr LEZALA — That is a good question, because we have seen — as we saw in London in 2005, in Hong Kong in the early 90s and Singapore more recently — that you can get a cascading effect once you have got that kind of wheel damage and high friction between wheel and rail until you restore your lubrication regime. I would stress that it is very hard to predict what lubrication regime you need when you change a railway. Lots of railways experience similar kinds of problems. So of course our vigilance on our wheels as we share tracks with V/Line on certain corridors was to make sure that our wheels were not wearing at an increased rate. What we did find is we have got some drying of grease around the network, so we stepped up our lubrication regime to try and avoid any cascade, and so far that has kept everything under control.

The CHAIR — So there has not been any significant — —

Mr LEZALA — We have not seen a noticeable increase in wheel wear yet, and we do not expect to, because of the measures we are taking together with V/Line to make sure that the lubrication regime is more than adequate to recover the situation.

The CHAIR — Has there been a small increase in wheel wear?

Mr LEZALA — We saw a small increase on one particular train, but we do not believe that is directly linked.

Mr WEIMAR — I think, Chair, this is also where we do work as a network, so with the experiences that we are having with V/Line we engage very closely with Metro and V/Line to ensure that any lessons or any emerging best practices are translated across the entire network, and I think that is what we see some evidence of here.

Ms TIERNEY — Can I ask when the lubrication program was stepped up?

Mr LEZALA — When you change a railway in any way, you have to try and predict what extra lubrication you will need, you make your best estimate of that and then you monitor how it is going, because you do not want to overlubricate, because then you get wheels spinning and trains sliding through stations, so you have to be very careful. It is an evolutionary process, and the unfortunate thing is once wheels start to get abrasive they quickly damage other parts of the track, so you have to overlubricate. What I would praise my colleagues for in this is reacting extremely quickly to re-establish a lubrication regime that will minimise further damage. The focus is on containing the problem and then restoring service, so that is what we have all done together.

Mr FINN — Was the derailment last week as a result of overlubrication of the tracks, or was it something unrelated?

Mr LEZALA — No, it was not overlubrication. That is under investigation between ourselves and the national regulator, and we expect to have some results of the analysis. The track has been analysed and cleared by ourselves and the regulator for service, so it was not a track issue necessarily. What we are now looking at is the vehicle itself, and particularly the bogie concerned and the suspension system, so we are just analysing that.

But in October 2016 rail lubrication came up again – now being blamed for the the two derailments at Rushall. From The Age:

Metro has admitted in leaked correspondence that maintenance failures on its part caused two derailments on the same bend within five days last summer.

Trains came off the tracks twice on the tightest curve on Melbourne’s rail network, near Rushall station in Fitzroy North, on February 6 and February 10.

First a passenger train and then a track maintenance vehicle came off the rails because the track were not greased sufficiently and the tracks were in poor condition, according to a report by a senior Metro manager, obtained by Fairfax Media.

The report, by Metro manager of safety, environment and risk Matt Sekulitch​, said the cause was “a combination of lack of lubrication and track condition, which created an upwards component of lateral force exceeding downwards force on the wheel”.

Mr Sekulitch wrote on May 18 that after the two derailments, “MTM has initiated a program of work to ensure adequate lubrication across the network for all vehicle types.”

At Rushall, where the trains came off the tracks, “the track geometry for the relevant curve has been reviewed and re-aligned with several faults removed,” he wrote.

Metro spokeswoman Sammie Black said Metro regularly greased its tracks, but stepped up its regime after the derailments near Rushall.

“Lubrication is a permanent regime for the metropolitan railway and we use a combination of fixed greasing pots and manual lubrication across the network,” Ms Black said.

“Since February we have increased the frequency of the manual lubrication of our tracks and adjusted the height of the greasing pots across our network.”

Mr Sekulitch’s leaked email was consistent with a technical report completed in March, and with advice Metro had given to Public Transport Victoria and the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator about the incident, she said.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is still investigating the causes of the derailment of the passenger train on February 6.

Trains roll on metal wheels along metal rails, which is a low friction environment. So how does lubricating the rails make things better, instead of creating a slippery mess?

From the Australian CRC for Rail Innovation:

Train motions through curves can cause major damage to wheels and rail, thereby raising maintenance requirements, causing noise pollution and increasing costs.

Properly and efficiently applied lubricants should lessen squeal on corners and reduce overall rail noise.

They can also reduce wear on track and wheel, particularly on the contact zone on the outside curve, which is the major wear site for track operators.

For decades ‘grease pots’ have been the traditional way of applying lubrication to the rails.

Bolted to the rail, each time a wheel passes over the top, a smear of grease is applied to it. But they are a low tech solution – they don’t always put grease where it is needed.

With splotches of grease belong left behind by slow moving wheels.

And staff need to visit each pot on a regular basis to refill it with grease.

Getty Images ID 90747770

Not exactly a simple job when the grease pot is sitting in the middle of the tracks!

As a result grease posts started to disappear from the Melbourne suburban network.

Soon after, these new mysterious objects started to appear trackside.

What are these new solar-powered things near Caulfield station? #MetroTrains pic.twitter.com/jI23I4xJo0

— Daniel Bowen (@danielbowen) September 13, 2017

Plenty of people began to ask what the hell they were.

On the Belgrave and Lilydale line, what are all those newly grey roundish things about a meter high and wide with a big solar panel on a tall pole?

A product of Lincoln Industrial, these are a high technology replacement for old fashioned grease pots.

A sensor attached to the rails detects the passage of trains.

While applicators attached to the rails dispense the grease.

Both being connected to the control unit and grease reservoir, safely located away from the tracks to allow for easy maintenance.

So far units I’ve seen units installed at North Melbourne, Jolimont, Caulfield and Burnley.

Will they fix the issues that derailed the trains at Rushall? I sure hope so.

Footnote

Exploded diagram of a Lincoln automatic rail lubricator.

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We start with a special train operated by the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre, with 50-year old museum pieces T320 and T357 leading an 11 carriage long train from Seymour to Geelong.

At the rear of the train was parlor car ‘Yarra’ with observation platform.

Over at North Shore I found a short freight train, shunting empty log wagons out of the Midway woodchip mill.

Outside of Little River I photographed a number of freight trains – here four diesel locomotives haul a SCT Logistics service from Perth to Melbourne.

Almost as long was this freight train from Geelong – made up of loaded cement hoppers and empty log flat wagons.

And this freight train from Mildura, made up of LCL cargo in louvred vans and export containers.

I did see a few passenger trains – like this Indian Pacific liveried locomotive hauling the Adelaide-bound Overland service.

As well as this dinky little V/Line service to Geelong, operated by a 2-car VLocity set.

Finally, something you don’t see too often – a works train dumping fresh ballast onto the tracks near Corio.

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

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This row of pine trees along the edge of Morton Park, Blackburn was one of the victims – cleared for a rail under road grade separation at Blackburn Road.

Meanwhile a few stations along the line at Camberwell, the railway passes beneath Burke Road, a grade separation project completed almost 100 years ago. Fast forward to today, and creepers are starting to reclaim the cutting walls.

With a much larger bush taking hold down at ground level.

But you don’t need to wait decades for nature to take over – the railway tracks through Mitcham station were only placed below ground in 2014, and this elm tree has already started to poke out of the concrete cutting wall.

So don’t lose hope – as long as Melbourne’s rail network is in the hands of a private operator more concerned with profits than infrastructure maintenance, nature will reclaim even our newest rail infrastructure.

Footnote

The Age has more on the clearing of trees at Blackburn for level crossing works.

​The “scorched-earth” felling of hundreds of trees by Andrews government contractors preparing the way for level crossing removal has left Blackburn residents fuming.

The Belgrave-Lilydale rail line is being lowered beneath Blackburn Road to remove the level crossing near Blackburn railway station.

But as part of the project, at least 220 trees will go, including 23 mature cypress and pine trees on the rail line in Blackburn’s Morton Park.

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It’s a hi-rail excavator – a piece of standard heavy construction equipment, fitted with a set of fold down flanged wheels that allows the machine to roll along railway tracks.

During major trackwork projects, you can find hi-rail excavators all over the tracks.

Rail wheels make moving to the work site easy.

And they can drag a trolley of equipment if needed.

With a standard bucket fitted, the machines can be used to dig up existing level crossings.

Or dig up ballast beside the tracks.

Heavy concrete railway sleepers can be moved using a forklift attachment.

But a specialised claw attachment allows eight sleepers to be moved at a time.

Once the sleepers are beside the tracks, an excavator with a tie inserter attachment can place them into the tracks.

Then freshly ballast can be added.

And to finish the job is another specialised accessory – the ballast tamper attachment.

The metal tines are pushed into the ballast and then pressed together repeatedly, packing the freshly laid ballast around the newly laid tracks.

Can you imagine having to do the same tasks with just a pick and shovel?

Footnote

Here is a video of a hi-rail excavator rolling along the then-new Regional Rail Link tracks at Tarneit – they can zip along rather fast if need be!

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