Melbourne’s Railways Have Just Changed 

Thanks for posting this. Clearly this is a preview of what's coming next once the tunnel opens, the new Cross City line begins and the Frankston line begins running independently. These are my predictions going forward for when the tunnel opens: - The next round of Comeng retirements will begin as soon as the tunnel opens (I'd imagine all EDIs) - Sandringham to Willimastown/Werribee will be served by the entire Siemens fleet - Northern group served by Comeng until X'Trap 2.0 arrives - Frankston group X'Traps and Comeng until X'Trap 2.0 arrives.

No wonder I couldn't catch a Siemens on the northern group. I was wondering... At least my fav train is going to be more common?

Tnx for including the RVB footage at the end, I’m excited to ride as many comeng as possible before their retirement, and for me this helps, although variety in the train you catch definitely adds to the enjoyment of being a rail-fan.

So, this is the current situation, Comeng trains are currently going through a door modification project at Westall, once a 6 car set has been modified, it can be used on the Sandringham and Cross City groups at all times. Sets that are yet to be modified must be operated on the Northern Group of lines. If unmodified Comengs run on the Cross City Lines due to distruptions, they are to be transposed from these lines as soon as possible. You will still see the odd Siemens on the Northern Group, and as the Comeng Door mods occur you will see more Comengs back on the Cross City and Sandy lines. This has nothing to do with the eventual removal of Comengs or the like, it is 100% related to the Door Modifocations. It was investigated to see if there were enough Siemens to use them on the Sandy, Werribee and Williamstown lines exclusivly but it was determined that there were not enough sets to achieve this. X-Traps have now been approved to run the Williamstown Shuttles and are the timetabled train type now to do these runs although you may still see the odd Siemens doing them still. Due to the level crossings on the Willy line, 3 car X-Traps were not allowed to do the shuttles.

I like having only one train on a line. Makes it easier to know what train is coming. Where the optimal seat and door is, etc.

100% Comeng on the Sunbury line was really unexpected to me for some reason. i expected Craigieburn and Upfield to get the old stock (which i love and hate, i love the Comeng but hate the lack of upgrades) but for Sunbury, its kinda like giving everyone the feeling of the old stuff before they get the full on new hotness to make it seem sweeter (though for me, its the opposite, like giving us gold before taking it away for silver)

dangit, I’m on the Upfield line and Comeng are literally the worst. They have the awkward handle doors and every second carriage has an awful high pitch noise coming from the electric converter thingy on the top of the carriages. It was always a sweet relief when a Siemens showed up.

For us gunzels, this will either be great or terrible news depending on which line you're on, and your personal preferences. Personally, I use Sunbury a bit and love my Comengs so it works for me.

Wow, a Comeng train at Hughesdale station (my local station). I’ve only seen the new HCMT now, except for transfers to Westall depot. Fairly new video too, as the construction crane next to the station has been up less than a month.

Speaking of timetable changes, another lesser known and publicised detail is that the TDN of trains running along the Dandenong line now start with a C.

FYI - just spotted two Siemens in a row at Sunbury ... as you state - sometimes things get mixed up a little.

I didn't even know this was happening. I must say I liked it better when more types of trains could run across many different lines (especially the Comeng). Now I won't get to ride another Siemens on the Northern group, or a Comeng on the Sandringham line like I was hoping to do :( I wonder what will happen though when the Sandy line becomes part of the Cross City group after the Metro Tunnel opens and the Frankston line goes back in the Loop. Thanks as always for keeping us all updated.

I can confirm that they are now running 3-car X'trapolis trains on the Williamstown shuttles; I've seen it two days in a row.

I hate this. Bring the old days back when Comeng used to run on Burnley and Clifton Hill

Living on the Craigieburn Line, I've seen one notable difference - the Alstom Comengs have mostly been replaced with EDIs.

I have told by a few driver's that new drivers won't learn to operate comengs on the cross-city and Sandringham lines

This certainly makes it much easier to ride Comengs before they are retired but it does reduce variation. When it comes to rolling stock assignments on other rail services, this type of categorisation is actually quite common. The London Underground more or less has separate fleets for each line or group of lines which definitely makes spotting a specific type of train easier though with less variety (although you could see different types of train just by changing lines) The NYC subway also assigns specific types of rolling stock to specific services to some extent to make maintenance of trains easier.

Not surprised that the northern line got the older trains lol... "We" are usually forgotten part of the network... However thankfully I do like the Comeng trains...

Today I got an EDI Comeng on the Sandringham line from Flinders Street to Sandringham then to North Brighton. It was formed of (front to back) 348M-1024T-347M and 541M-1121T-542M. It was the 1:51pm Flinders street to Sandringham train and I rode in 542M (which was the back carriage to Sandringham and front to North Brighton). It came from Williamstown from the 5:56am train.

Well this was certainly interesting, especially since it's less than a week before I go over there. I like the Comeng units, but have mixed thoughts over them essentially taking over the Northern Group. As for the Siemens Nexas running all Sandringham services, that won't affect me too much because a) I won't be visiting that line and b) I don't care for the Siemens units, to be honest.

2024 version of the split lol Jokes aside i think the reason why they did this divide is so the HCMTs can have it easier to take over the Sunbury line with the Siemens trains more or less gone off the Sunbury line the HCMTs will be able to take over the Sunbury line. Also from what I can tell EDI Comeng mostly run on the Sunbury line and Alstom Comeng mostly on the Craigieburn and Upfield line although this may not always be true.

I'm a cross city group served member, dissapointed to hear that due to the merge with Sandringham we're losing the commeng fleet over here (If I'm near Southern Cross or Newport I do the occasional bit of train spotting, I've seen some cool af things in the areas) but it will be cool to see more Siemens trains, usually they're outnumbered by Commeng and X'trap trains

I remember reading this just as a rumour on facebook but it wasn't supposed to happen until the munnel opens, so it seems that was mostly correct

Maaan, I’m dreading that new metro tunnel opening and needing to change trains to get from Dandenong to Southern Cross (because suburban passengers aren’t allowed on the VLine trains).

in the early ‘70s only doggies and Taits ran on the St Kilda, Port Melbourne and Sandringham lines. Maybe the Frankston line could be made standard gauge which would suit the Long Island steel train and double deckers from Goninans.

As soon as they updated the Siemens pids too🤦. Now I have to go south to spot one.

Instead of the 3 car Comeng on the Williamstown shuttles, it can be 3 car X'Trapolis to run the Williamstown line shuttle starting from June 2024.

Not a fan of this. The Comengs are the worst at crush capacity on the Cragieburn line. It was always such a relief to see a Siemens arrive in the peak!

Did you know that there were V/Line testing between Berwick and Warragul just after the new section of track in Pakenham opened? I've seen a few other people have filmed it and put videos up. Was hoping you might have as well.

I’m on the Craigieburn Line, so are my trains Comeng & Siemens?

I’m happy with the HCMT trains there’s more space inside

i saw coming running on the Sandringham line service on my way into the city today and then a siemens running an upfield service on my way out today. Wonder why that happened.

GREAT FOR TRAINSPOTING AT FLINDERS STREET SO YOU KNOW WHICH PLATFORM TO PHOTO WHAT TRAIN

Come g are my favourite train on the network, I’m happy as a chappy

feels like yet another kick to the long suffering west :(

I saw 3 comengs heading towards Frankston in a space of 30 minutes

As someone who uses Sandringham I was wondering where all the comeng went.

Everything is more organized now in my opinion

So will the Xtrap's be removed from the cross-city should it change from Frankston to Sandringham when the metro tunnel opens?

nice upload! just a question, how do you find the rostering?

overall, i think this a dramatic decrease in operational flexibility, but also a decrease in complexity. i think Comengs should operate everywhere for flexibility and favouritism, but my home lines are Craigieburn and Upfield anyway so i'm happy for them to be prioritised on those lines.

Here's a question for someone - I heard that the Comeng trains are being retrofitted with Single Tone horns - I heard one at my local station (Mordialloc) the other day and it was very similar to an X'Trapolis sounding horn - anyone know what the reason would be to remove the Three Chime?

God damn it. Clifton Hill and Burnley are still stuck with trashy X'traps 😐

Well, technically they are not HCMT METRO trains. They are HCMT Downer trains. And the ultimate goal removing crossover lines at Caulfield is to sell off the East Pakenham and Cranbourne line to Downer

I saw a Comeng on the Sandrigham Line today. Unfortunately I forgot to film it cause it was too crowded with people as it was during the peak hour

wow

My dad is in Melbourne and he is using a metro trains,I have been one that trains❤😊

So once again the passengers on the Northern group of lines have to put up with outdated rail stock. Comeng trains are well past their use by date and the Siemens trains have handles which hang from the roof down the entire carriage which you can hold to if you have to stand in the aisle.

Another weird thing is that the EDI comeng PIDs (And EDI comengs specifically) on the cross city group now says where the service will go after flinders street if it’s an UP service. Edit: the reason I posted this is to ask: why bothering updating something if it’s going to go out of use soonish?

Something I'm aware of is that my Werrbilee line might be going to the Sandringham line instead of going to Frankston and Our colour might Change from green to Pink Since the New Melbourne tunnel is catching up fast Already and Our timetable will change as well

What!!??? I saw a Siemens going to Craigieburn, you said the northern group is only Comeng?

How are comengs running on sunbury when the caulfield group will through run with Sunbury with hcmts?

Will the Siemens be permanently out of the city loop before the X’trapolis 2.0 enters service?

I saw a comeng pass through Elsternwick on the Sandringham line today. Why is this?

What does this mean for disability access. As I understand it, the Siemens sets have a higher DSAPT compliance. Which means the Sunbury line will have reduced compliance? Could this be an issue?

Did you see Daniel Bowen has written a blog post based on this video of yours?

so does the frankston line still have all 3 trains siemens, comeng, xtrapolis?

Is the new timetable for the metro tunnel being integrated into the network

I'm on a siemans on the Sunbury line now though?!

Burnley group always gets ignored with these rail projects / changes it seems. It'd be nice to see the Burnley group get some or attention.

they couldve switched the comeng back to the burnley and clifton hill groups, and have the xtraps more system wide. yes while it makes sense about the craigieburn workshops i would like xtraps (idk why) and siemens edit: i have seen siemens on the northern group still, so idk whats up there

Will the Werribee Line still have Comeng?

Honestly I dont mind the full commeng on the northen groups..

This video would've made more sense to those less familiar with trains if you'd written which trains are which.

When will this change be introduced?

Which train line do you live on?

This is actually horrible.. Melbourne has completely gone bonkers. So that’s why the day to Sandringham had a lot of Siemens..

Isn't this a roster change not a timetable change?

Lol when is the northern group scheduled to return to steam service..... Coneng trains have been around since the early 80s

...and another siemens FSS > SUY on the way home!

You need to put up a graphic of the trains your are talking about instead of showing stock footage.

Im so happy I live in Ballarat and don't have to put up with all this Metro trains crapola🤣🤣🤣

get rid of xtraps

Well this suck, and this would mean Siemens will be temporarily removed from the City Loop.

Why not build something universal over every line and just purpose built to Interurban or Inter City, NSW was close , QLD was too.but intercity just turned into extended suburban for them.

Bring back the Hitachi!

Who said Melbourne's transport modes and trains are better than Sydney???? Is that what Metro really is??