Doug - G'day rail fans, today is Thursday the 16th of September 2021,
during our sixth lockdown here in Melbourne.
We start off this video with a quick look at the Vlocity’s and Sprinters at Southern cross station
I’ve been waiting for a while to ride on one of the new High-Capacity Metro Trains
and today is the first opportunity I’ve had to do so.
I’ll head over to the suburban platforms
and the video will pick up with the Arrival
of a new High-Capacity Metro Train, or H.C.M.T. for short.
* PA Anouncement * Good afternoon passangers
Cranbourn train on Platform 12
Runing express South Yarra to Caulfield
and then stopping all stations to Cranbourn
* Automated announcement * The next station is - Flinders Street
This is the first new type of suburban trains to enter
service on the Melbourne suburban network since 2002
The first HCMT public service was on
27 December 2020 when an extra service was operated from Pakenham.
The first regular timetabled services ran on 31st January 2021.
The HCMTs are built by a consortium called Evolution Rail
as part of a Public Private Partnership.
The consortium consists of Downer Rail,
the Chinese, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles
and the Plenary Group
which is the financial partner in the consortium
As part of this contract,
the consortium was also responsible for
the construction of the heavy
maintenance facility at Pakenham
and a light maintenance facility at Calder Park
on the Sunbury line.
Apparently at this stage the HCMTs
are only operating between the City
and Pakenham and Cranbourne,
but when the Metro Tunnel is complete
they will continue out to Sunbury
on the opposite side of the city.
At the present time
they do not have in CAB signalling
but this will be installed when the supporting infrastructure is introduced along the route.
According to the Public Transport Users Association
the seating capacity for the HCMTs
is about equivalent to the current rolling stock,
but being a longer train,
there is more standing room and
therefore greater capacity during peak period.
Unlike previous suburban rolling stock
these are the first solid seven car sets
instead of the previous two blocks of three carriages.
this means you can walk from one end of the train to the other
as there are no driving cabs in the middle of the train.
Another interesting design feature of the train
is the streamlined ends which among other things
is designed to stop "train surfing".
It will be interesting to see how maintenance
goes for these Chinese-built trains given
given the worsening relationship
between our two governments
* Automated announcement * Now arriving at Flinders Street
Doug - Keep an eye out on the right-hand side of the train
as we enter Flinders Street Station
As two two VL class locomotives pass us
If you want a better view of the locos
check out our recent video
on VL class locos hauling ore trains in the Adelaide River area,
Link at the end of the video and in the description below.
* Extreamly loud automated announcement * 3:42 to Cranbourn, stopping all stations
to South Yarra, running express from
South Yarra and Caulfiled
then stopping all stations to Cranbourn
And always remember to touch on your MYKI
at the start of your journey
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until next time, bye for now