High Capacity Metro Trains Continue Entering Timetable Service

28/02/2022

High Capacity Metro Trains (HCMT) continue entering passenger service, providing increased capacity, improved reliability and better accessibility features for the passengers of Victoria.

Downer, as part of the Evolution Rail Consortium, is delivering 65 High Capacity Metro Trains – the largest single order of trains in Victoria’s history. The project is in partnership with the Victorian Government, who committed $2.3 billion to get Victorians where they need to go.

“After rigorous design, stakeholder engagement and testing, Downer is very pleased to be part of delivering Victoria’s first new train design in nearly 20 years, providing safe, reliable and comfortable transport solutions for the people of Melbourne,” Matt Arculus, Project Director said. 

“Our fleet is built using at least 60 percent local content and the project has created more than 1,100 jobs across the Victorian supply chain.

“With such a focus on workforce development, job creation and local content, it’s wonderful to know that the Victorians who built the trains are enjoying them along with other passengers.” 

The new HCMTs feature:

 20 percent more capacity than existing trains

 28 allocated spaces for wheelchairs and other mobility devices in each seven-car train

 Priority seating throughout the train

 Improved real-time information through dynamic route maps and passenger information displays

 Multiple types of grab handles

 Improved CCTV capacity for greater passenger safety

 Easy-to-use passenger intercom system

 New high capacity signaling. 

The HCMTs will be maintained by Downer for over 30 years at our state-of-the-art maintenance facility located in Pakenham East.

“We can maintain up to 80 trains at our Pakenham East Depot, which is the largest maintenance facility in Australia,” Matt said. “Knowing that we can serve Victorian passengers now, as well as into the future as the State grows, makes me extremely proud.”  

With over 20 percent of the fleet now onto the network, the remaining trains will continue to enter passenger service progressively after completing safety and performance tests, initially operating on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, before eventually running through to Sunbury once the Metro Tunnel opens. 

Watch our video to learn more about the new HCMTs: https://youtu.be/xCgJXchVrJE

For more information visit: https://www.downergroup.com/rail