The Hitachi (also known as Silver trains, Martin & King or Stainless Steel) is a retired electric multiple unit train that operated on the Melbourne suburban railway network between 1972 and 2014. Electrical equipment was supplied by Commonwealth Engineering, to designs by Hitachi of Japan, leading to their official name today, although no Hitachi-supplied components were used in their construction. They were the last suburban trains in Melbourne without air conditioning. A total of 355 carriages were built between 1972 and 1981, including a replacement carriage for one written off while the fleet was still being delivered.

Configuration

Based on a successful trial of longer Harris trailer cars built between 1967 and 1971, the Hitachi used carriages that were long, an increase from the standard length of earlier suburban cars. The revised carriage configuration enabled a six-car Hitachi to seat 560 passengers, up from 540 for a seven-car Harris, and allowed a maximum load of 1,500 passengers, 300 more than a Harris train. had been converted into T carriages by the late 1970s, to form symmetrical M-T-M units for the opening of the City Loop. Those units could be doubled to make six car sets, configured as M-T-M-M-T-M, which became the de facto configuration in the 1990s.

The 237 motor carriages were numbered 1M to 237M, and the 117 trailer carriages, 1901T to 2017T. On 15 August 2009, the remaining Hitachi carriages were renumbered to allow for the second order of X'Trapolis trains, which also started from 1M. The remaining Hitachi M cars were renumbered from 273M up to 300M, although the new numbering did not reflect the age of each car. The numbering reflected which T car was in each set, the lowest-numbered T car received the lowest-numbered M cars, in order of which M car was already the lowest. For example, 2007T was the highest-numbered T car, so 23M was renumbered to 299M, because it was lower than 233M, which was renumbered to 300M.

Trials, early use and adaptations

The first to Hitachi train to operate in revenue service, on 24 December 1972, was four-carriage set 1M-901T-902T-2M, on the St Kilda line.

As originally introduced, the Silver fleet was going to use marker lights as route indications at all times, in contrast to previous fleets, which used destination discs in daytime and marker lights at night. Inadequate visibility of the marker lights during daylight led to that instruction being cancelled. Consequently, in 1973, the only daytime route indication was the destination rolls at each end of trains, and staff were expected to memorise the relevant rosters. Daylight use of the marker lamps was expected to be reintroduced from 7 February 1974 but, from February 1974, the trains were gradually fitted with route indication disc brackets. Most of the fleet had been equipped by 7 March 1974.

When the carriages were refurbished by Connex, they were returned to their original silver colour, with Metlink logos added near the saloon doors, Connex blue and gold striping on the front of the leading cars, and two blue and gold side panels near the driver's cab. The passenger seats also received new fabric, similar to that of Alstom-refurbished Comeng trains. With the takeover of Connex by Metro Trains, the Connex logos were covered by Metro stickers.

Beginning in 1992, the Hitachi fleet received internal, external, and cab upgrades, at the PTC's Ballarat North and Bendigo Workshops. The refurbishment included the replacement of existing rubber or carpet flooring with vinyl, the replacement of panels above the seats with a new anti-vandal material, and the substituting of the wood-grained upper panels and bone-coloured roof with off-white panels. New seat pads were provided on repainted and strengthened seat modules, luggage racks and advertising boards were removed, windows and doors overhauled, including the door-closing motors worked by air, along with a general clean of the exterior and the application of new green and gold stripes. In 2008, the remaining seven 6-car trains were again modified, and a more powerful driver's air-conditioning system replaced the small vents on the roof. However, three other "leading" cars (9M, 89M and 225M, now 277M, 281M and 296M respectively) were not modified and so were relegated to being in the centre of trains sets.

thumb|Hitachi 273M, loaded on a truck to Molong NSW

Retirement

New X'Trapolis 100 and Siemens Nexas trains were progressively introduced from 2002 to replace the ageing Hitachi fleet. The X'Trapolis and Siemens trains have features such as push-button-operated doors and air conditioning, the lack of the latter feature making the Hitachis unpopular with passengers. A majority of the sets were withdrawn between 2002 and 2005, and were either scrapped, sold to private buyers across Australia, stored, or acquired by railway museums and preservation groups. Three Hitachi motor carriages were lifted and fixed to the roof of Easey's Restaurant in Collingwood, although only one carriage is part of the restaurant.

thumb|253x253px|Hitachi 298M at Newport Workshops in March 2026

The final six 6-carriage trains were to be withdrawn after the 2006 Commonwealth Games, but instead received a minor refurbishment and remained in revenue service until December 2013, due to a significant increase in train patronage. In February 2007, at which time 31 trains in the new Siemens Nexas fleet were out of service due to braking problems, it was reported that the Victorian Government was negotiating to lease one withdrawn 6-carriage set from rail preservation group Elecrail, and repurchase another three carriages from a private seller to supplement the fleet. In April 2007, an additional three 3-car Hitachi trains were bought back from Australian businessman John Horne to provide spare parts for the fleet. The Elecrail set re-entered service in December 2007.

left|thumb|250px|187M in its original unpainted livery preserved at the Newport Railway Museum

In September 2008, Transport Safety Victoria withdrew the remaining trains from service due to concerns over corrosion around the doors and floor. A series of tests were carried out before the trains were sent to Ballarat North Workshops for repair work. It was decided to proceed with the repairs, costing approximately $2 million, because the trains were required for a new timetable starting in November 2008.

In April 2014, a farewell tour for the Hitachi trains was held, organised by Elecrail in cooperation with Metro Trains. The tour encompassed the Craigieburn, South Morang and Sunbury lines. During the event, Public Transport Victoria confirmed that Hitachi trains would no longer be used in revenue service in Melbourne.

M car (187M), as modified by the PTC, is on static display at the Newport Railway Museum. One 3-car set (3M, 304D and 178M) has been preserved and is actively having works undertaken to restore it to a fully Operational standard by 707 Operations. M car (3M) has been preserved with its original unmodified cab, while M car (178M) has been preserved with a Connex refurbished cab. 1946T has been preserved in an Operational condition at the Mornington Tourist Railway. The remaining carriages were progressively sold to private owners or scrapped.

References

  • Hitachi trains at VICSIG
  • Peter J Vincent: Hitachi M cars
  • Peter J Vincent: Hitachi T cars
  • Peter J Vincent: Hitachi D cars

Further reading

  • Silver Suburbans, Newsrail, January 1973