Metro Trains
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Public transport |
| Founded | 30 November 2009 |
| Headquarters | Collins Street, Melbourne |
|
Area served
|
Melbourne, Australia |
|
Key people
|
Andrew Lezala (CEO) |
| Products | Transport services |
| Owner |
MTR Corporation (60%) John Holland Group (20%) UGL Rail (20%) |
| Website | www.metrotrains.com.au |
Metro Trains Melbourne (MTM), known colloquially as simply 'Metro', is the franchise operator of the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Australia. Metro Trains Melbourne is a joint venture between the Hong Kong-based MTR Corporation (60%), John Holland Group (20%) and UGL Rail (20%).
Metro Trains Melbourne operates a fleet of 407 three-car train sets on 837 kilometres (520 mi) of track. There are sixteen regular service train lines and one special events train line. The train fleet travels over 30 million kilometres (19,000,000 mi) and provides more than 228 million customer boardings each year, over 14,000 services each week and carries over 415,000 passengers each weekday. Metro Trains Melbourne is also responsible for 215 railway stations and employs a workforce of 3,500 rail professionals including train drivers, mechanical and electrical engineers, network operations specialists and customer service representatives.
The actual railway tracks, infrastructure and rolling stock is owned by VicTrack on behalf of the State Government, and is leased to Public Transport Victoria which then sub-leases them to Metro Trains Melbourne. Metro Trains has faced criticism in the past and was voted the worst rail system in Australia in 2011.
Metro Trains Melbourne was selected as the new operator by the State Government of Victoria through its relevant agency, the Director of Public Transport, in June 2009 and replaced the previous operator, Connex Melbourne, on 30 November 2009. It has an eight-year contract with the option of being extended for a further seven years. On 2 April 2012, the newly created Public Transport Victoria took over the management of the contract from the Director of Public Transport.
The majority of rolling stock is owned by the Victorian Government business enterprise VicTrack. However, Metro Trains Melbourne is ultimately responsible for maintaining the train fleet.
As part of the 2008 Victorian Transport Plan, 38 new six-car X'Trapolis EMUs have been ordered, with the first of 19 trains that are being built by Alstom in Italy arriving at the Newport Workshops on 24 August 2009. The trains will be assembled at United Group's Ballarat plant, under a state government requirement for a minimum of 40% local content. The new trains will only be used in revenue service on lines already cleared for their operation, with displaced trains on these lines being cascaded to those that miss out. The first two sets (1M-1301T-2M and 3M-1302T-4M) have been delivered and are currently being introduced into mainstream service. The new X'Trapolis fleet have a different seating layout to the original X'Trapolis trains (2–2 instead of 3–2). Concerns from the Union regarding minor technical issues have delayed the entry to service for the trains from late 2009 to early 2010. The Siemens fleet already have a 2–2 seating layout, and as part of the franchise agreement, Metro Trains Melbourne are required to alter the seating layout of the Comeng and original X'Trapolis fleet to 2–2 seating. As part of the plan, the Victorian Government will also be purchasing next generation trains, with 30% more room.
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Wikipedia