High capacity metro trains project reaches first major milestone

By December 20, 2017Media Releases

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA: Evolution Rail – a consortium comprising Downer, CRRC and Plenary – has achieved its first major contractual milestone in the delivery of the High Capacity Metro Trains (HCMT) Project with the production and assembly of a full scale physical mock-up of the HCMT train.

The 39-metre long mock-up, representing almost two full carriages including the driver cab, is a critical component of the design process.

“We’ve conducted a comprehensive stakeholder engagement program over a five-week period focused on evaluating the train design through the mock-up. At these sessions, stakeholders have had a chance to walk through and experience certain features of the train and their feedback is now helping us further refine and validate the train design,” said Phillip Walker, CEO, Evolution Rail.
“This represents the first major contractual milestone for the HCMT Project that sees Evolution Rail closer to finalising the design of the trains that will be the biggest and best on Melbourne’s metropolitan network.”

The mock-up has undergone a practical evaluation by drivers, technical experts, the Public Transport Access Committee and Metro Trains Melbourne. Passenger and accessibility groups, various government agencies as well as focus groups have also participated, representing a cross section of the community.

Key features of the HCMT fleet include more allocated spaces for wheel chairs and mobility devices, improved real time passenger information, a greater number of hand grabs and hand rails and improved CCTV for increased passenger and driver safety.

The new trains will be built with 60 per cent local content and will be able to carry 20 per cent more passengers than the existing Melbourne metropolitan fleet. The new trains will enter service from mid-2019 on the Cranbourne-Pakenham lines, with the final fleet being dedicated to the Sunbury to Pakenham corridor, linked by the new Metro Tunnel.

For further information please contact:
Nataly Matijevic
Interface Manager, Evolution Rail
+61 412 646 656
nataly.matijevic@evolutionrail.com

About Evolution Rail
The Evolution Rail consortium, that is made up of Downer, CRRC and Plenary, has been contracted by the Victorian Government, via a public private partnership, to deliver the High Capacity Metro Trains (HCMT) Project. The project includes the delivery of 65 trains that will be maintained by Evolution Rail for 35 years.
For more information about the project visit: www.transport.vic.gov.au/biggertrains.