Stuck truck under the Napier Street bridge

Trucks getting stuck under the Montague Street bridge is a running Melbourne joke, but there is another bridge that gets hit far more often, but where the risk to the public is far worse – the Napier Street bridge in Footscray.

Victoria Police in attendance at Napier Street after the driver of a eastbound container truck struck the bridge

The incident

On Sunday 3 March a called ‘professional’ driver of a container truck loaded with a single ‘high cube’ 40 foot ISO shipping container bound for the Port of Melbourne tried to make it under the 4.0 metre clearance Napier Street bridge, but ignored the warning signs – striking the bridge and dislodging the container from the truck.

By the time I came past trains were already running again following an inspection of the bridge, and Victoria Police were in attendance – not hard, given their police station is next door!

Victoria Police in attendance at Napier Street after the driver of a eastbound container truck struck the bridge

The damage

The 40 foot container had been dislodged from the trailer, and hanging at a perilous angle, almost ready to fall onto the footpath.

40 foot container dislodged from the truck after it hit the Napier Street railway bridge

The bridge protection beam taking the hit rather than the bridge.

40 foot container dislodged from the truck after it hit the Napier Street railway bridge

The impact speed must have been high, as the bridge warning lights had been dislodged.

Damaged warning lights after a 40 foot container hit the Napier Street railway bridge

And the steel container deformed.

40 foot container bashed up after it hit the Napier Street railway bridge

An impact mark from the bridge protection beam visible to one side.

40 foot container bashed up after it hit the Napier Street railway bridge

Dislodged container twistlocks on the ground below.

Twistlocks on the ground after a 40 foot container was dislodged from the truck after it hit the Napier Street railway bridge

A hole in the fresh asphalt where the container fell to the ground.

Fresh asphalt beat up after a 40 foot container hit the Napier Street railway bridge and fell onto the road

Recovery time

The truck operator called up mobile crane to assist with the recovery operation.

Humma crane in attendance just in case

But it wasn’t needed – a heavy tow truck was used to drag the container away from the truck.

X'Trapolis 199M passes a 40 foot container stuck under the Napier Street bridge, heavy tow truck ready to drag off the truck

Chains and the rear boom used to lift up the rear of the container.

Heavy tow truck ready to drag off the 40 foot container off the truck stuck under the Napier Street bridge

Which then topped over sideways.

And over it goes - 40 foot container falls onto it's side after being dragged off the truck

Crushing the fence intended to ‘protect’ pedestrians from road vehicles.

40 foot container sitting on it's side after being dragged off the truck

I don’t think that was how they intended the recovery to go!

At least the semi-trailer was now free.

Beat up container twistlocks on the truck that hit the Napier Street bridge

But in need of repair – the rear container twistlocks bent out of position.

Beat up container twistlocks on the truck that hit the Napier Street bridge

Another crack

After a bit of maneuvering, the heavy tow truck was able to pull the 40 foot container back upright.

Heavy tow truck pulls the 40 foot container back upright

And then pull it clear of the bridge.

Heavy tow truck drags the 40 foot container clear of the bridge

Allowing a waiting sidelifter truck to pull up alongside.

Sidelifter truck ready to pick up the damaged 40 foot container

Lift the damaged container onto the sidelift trailer.

Sidelifter truck picks up the damaged 40 foot container

And take it away.

Sidelifter truck takes the damaged 40 foot container away

Allowing the eastbound lanes to be reopened.

Road traffic back to normal beneath the Napier Street bridge in Footscray

All up the recovery effort took an hour to complete.

So why is the Napier Street bridge worse?

The Montague Street might be notorious for bridge strikes in Melbourne.

A1.253 passes over the Montague Street bridge

But the bulk of impacts in South Melbourne are just weekend warriors on car licences driving rental trucks when moving house – not ‘professional’ drivers with a heavy vehicle licence – and a four tonne steel shipping containers falling off a truck is far more dangerous to other motorists than the body of a pantech truck getting a little beat up.

In addition the statistics don’t lie – the the Napier Street bridge was struck 37 times by heavy vehicles between 2018 and 2022, while the Montague Street bridge was only hit once in 2021.

One possible solution – the Port Rail Shuttle project, paused back in 2015, but ready to start operation ‘soon’.

Looking west towards the new level crossing between Intermodal Way and the Coode Road rail terminal siding

Footnote

And a bit of a laugh – a petition to “Paint Footscray’s Napier Street Bridge With Scary Shark Teeth“.

How can you rescue a disabled suburban train?

Most of the time electric trains are pretty mechanically simple – a pantograph on the roof is used to collect electricity from the overhead wires, which is then used to power the train. But what happens if something goes wrong with the overhead, destroying the pantograph? A few weeks ago Metro Trains Melbourne had this very problem, right at the core of the suburban network.

Maintenance fitters cut off the damaged pantograph from Siemens 749M

The drama begins

The story starts on the morning of Monday 8 January 2024, when a Siemens train departs Flinders Street Station bound for Sandringham, when it encountered a damaged section of overhead near Richmond station, which caused all four pantographs on the train to be damaged.

Siemens 762M on a down Sandringham service at Richmond Junction

Due to the number of nearby tracks and the need the keep trains moving on other lines, the decision was made to keep the defective train there until the last train of the night had departed.

Siemens train 749M-2525T-750M and 772M-2536T-771M stuck at Richmond Junction with all four pantographs damaged

Trains on the Sandringham line being replaced by buses for the day.

Siemens train shut down at Richmond platform 1

Getting to work

That night, Metro Trains could then turn off the overhead power to the adjacent tracks, and send in the overhead crew to inspect the damage wires.

Metro Trains scissor lift hi-rail truck passes the disabled Siemens train

And the damage to the pantographs.

Damaged pantograph atop Siemens 749M

Climbing onto the roof of the train with a ladder.

Maintenance fitters cut off the damaged pantograph from Siemens 749M

Cutting away the broken pantographs with an angle grinder.

Maintenance fitters cut off the damaged pantograph from Siemens 750M

Then throwing them down from the roof.

Maintenance fitters remove the damaged pantograph from Siemens 750M

So they could be stashed away inside the passenger saloon.

Damaged pantograph from Siemens 750M stashed away inside the passenger saloon

A call for help

With the pantographs gone, an electric train isn’t able to move by itself, so Metro Trains called up V/Line to borrow a diesel locomotive, who were able to send a Y class shunter from Southern Cross to help out.

Y156 waiting at Flinders Street platform 10 for the call to collect the disabled Siemens trains at Richmond Junction

But there was one gotcha – suburban electric trains have ‘multifunction’ couplers that combine electrical, air brake and mechanical links between trains.

Dellner coupler at the end of a Siemens train

While diesel locomotives have old fashioned knuckle couplers, which require separate air brake hoses to be connected.

Brake pipes and knuckle coupler of V/Line diesel locomotive Y161

But the incompatible couplings aren’t a dealbreaker – each suburban train carries a ‘transition coupler’ that adapts the ‘multifunction’ coupler to a standard knuckle coupler.

Emergency transition coupler beneath a Siemens train

Recovery time

With the coupling situation sorted.

Siemens train transition coupler sitting on the front step of Y156 so it can be used on the second Siemens set

Y156 slowly closed in on the disabled Siemens train.

Y156 arrives at Richmond Junction to recover the first failed Siemens set

CLUNK!

Y156 coupling up to disabled Siemens set 772M-2536T-771M at Richmond Junction

Time to connect up the transition coupler, along with a set of backup chains.

Transition coupler and chains connect Y156 and disabled Siemens set 749M-2525T-750M

The braking system of the Siemens train then needed to switched into a fallback air braking mode.

Open air brake equipment box on leading Siemens carriage 750M to allow the emergency brake application tap to be removed

And an emergency brake application tap connected as a backup for that.

Emergency brake application tap connected to leading Siemens carriage 750M

Y156 could then set off with the disabled electric train.

Y156 coupled up to disabled Siemens set 772M-2536T-771M at Richmond Junction

Towing it through to a spare track at Flinders Street Station.

Y156 on arrival at Flinders Street with disabled Siemens set 749M-2525T-750M

Leaving it there until another suburban train could drag it to the workshops for repair.

Disabled Siemens train 749M-2525T-750M now stabled at Flinders Street track 9A, pending transfer to the workshops for repair

And then Y156 could head back home to Southern Cross.

Y156 shunts out from Flinders Street track 9A, leaving the disabled Siemens train behind

Footnote: turns out it’s happened before

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a Siemens train need to be rescued by a V/Line diesel – back in 2023 a Powercor 22kV power line fell across the railway line at Laverton, causing a power surge on the 1500V DC traction power supply, bringing down the overhead, and cooking two Siemens trains. The next day V/Line locomotive N456 was out sent to assist, recovering the stranded Siemens trains as individual 3-car sets.

N456 departs Laverton with a disabled Siemens set led by 768M

And I saw a similar move back in 2019 as well a Siemens train encountered damaged overhead wiring outside Laverton, disabling the train. Again, the pantographs had to be cut away, and diesel locomotives from V/Line sent out to drag the suburban train away.

N466 trails the Siemens train recovery move through Altona Junction towards Newport at 5 km/h

So why is the City Loop inefficient?

As the new Metro Tunnel in Melbourne approaches completion, the inefficiencies of the existing City Loop have began to get more attention, with a project called the ‘City Loop Reconfiguration’ involving two short tunnel connections flagged as a way to fix them. So why is the City Loop inefficient to start with, and how can such a seemingly minor change to it’s operation fix them?

Siemens train in the City Loop, waiting for the platform at Flagstaff station to clear

Current state

The City Loop isn’t one tunnel but a network of four separate tunnels that encircle the Melbourne CBD, with train services from different lines taking different routes around it at different times of day, before finally arriving at Flinders Street.

'Trains from Flinders Street to' screen now using the correct network map colours

A result of this is that inbound trains full of passengers will slowly empty out as they make their way around the entire loop.

Plenty of passengers exiting the train at Flagstaff station on a Saturday

Before arriving at Flinders Street Station almost empty.

HCMT set 16 arrives into Flinders Street

A loading pattern shown in this diagram from the 2012 PTV Network Development Plan.


Figure 16-2: Existing City Loop operation and train loadings – 2012 PTV Network Development Plan

Which goes on to say:

Constraints in the Northern Group revolve around the need for Craigieburn and Upfield lines to merge in the City Loop, thereby restricting the combined frequency to 24 trains per hour.

On the Burnley Group, the terminating and turning back of Burnley local trains at Flinders Street limits capacity on all Burnley Group local lines.

The current routing and efficiency of the loop and terminating lines in the city is an inefficient use of resources (trains and infrastructure), as demonstrated in Figure 16-2. The line thickness designates an indicative train loading for the AM peak period.

From the above figure, it can be seen that the loop operation is inefficient because all trains entering the loop will be overloaded. However, by the time they run across the viaduct between Flinders Street and Southern Cross, they will be nearly empty, which is a waste of valuable central area track capacity.

In addition, Burnley local services (the Glen Waverley and Alamein lines) that run direct to and terminate at Flinders Street will be underutilised as many passengers will transfer onto loop services at Richmond, which again is a sub-optimal use of trains and infrastructure.

And a solution?

The 2008 East West Rail Link ‘Analysis on Rail Capacity’ report introduced a solution – reconfiguring the City Loop tunnels.

Northern – Burnley loops connected

The existing four city loop tunnels operate independently from each other. Rather than operating each group independently, this option would see trains running between North Melbourne and Richmond, either via Flinders Street (FSS) and Southern Cross (SXS), or via the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop (MURL). For this option, the following operations could be achieved:

  • Sydenham to Glen Waverley / Alamein / Blackburn via FSS, SXS
  • Craigieburn / Upfield to Belgrave / Lilydale via MURL

Operations would assume that layovers and crew changes would take place at suburban termini rather than at Flinders Street or Southern Cross.

By allowing Burnley and Northern trains travelling in the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop (MURL) to continue on to North Melbourne or Richmond respectively rather than looping around to Flinders Street, track and platform capacity at Southern Cross, Flinders Street and across the viaduct would be released. In association with discontinuing the practice of reversing trains at Flinders Street station, this would allow for direct services from each group to be linked.

The spare capacity at Flinders Street station could be used for services from Caulfield and Clifton Hill groups, and allow for network expansion.

The infrastructure works required to enable Northern-Burnley operations as shown include:

  • new tunnel connection from the Burnley loop tunnel west of Flagstaff to the existing western loop portal south of North Melbourne;
  • new tunnel connection from the Northern loop tunnel south of Parliament to a new portal situated in the Jolimont rail yards and connected to existing Burnley down track;
  • new platform 7 at North Melbourne, forming an island platform with existing platform 6;
  • track slewing on either side of North Melbourne to enable sectorisation of lines.

Passenger impacts would need to be carefully managed due to need to terminate Werribee/Williamstown trains at Southern Cross. Furthermore, this option does not offer new travel opportunities or CBD connectivity, and introduces some risk of overcrowding issues which would need special attention during the design of this option.

This option would allow the metropolitan rail network to transport around 114,000 passengers into the CBD in the morning peak hour.

And the concept was further refined in the 2012 PTV Network Development Plan.

The removal of loop operations on the Northern and Caulfield loops and the connection between specific lines on each side of the city will result in the creation of two new Cross-City lines, with capacity for an additional 30 trains per hour in the peak (Craigieburn – more than six trains per hour, Upfield and future Northern lines – more than 18 trains per hour and Burnley local lines – more than six trains per hour)

High level scope of works:

  • New tunnel link between Flagstaff (Caulfield loop) and North Melbourne platform 2. This will enable trains from Craigieburn to run into the Caulfield loop to Flagstaff, then exit via the existing portal at Richmond platform 5 and continue on to Frankston via Parliament
  • New tunnel link between Parliament (Northern loop) and Richmond platform 3. This will enable trains from Frankston to run into the Northern loop to Parliament, then exit via the existing western portal at North Melbourne on to Craigieburn via Flagstaff
  • Enabling works for new tunnel link from City Circle loop to down Burnley Through line to facilitate through running from Clifton Hill Loop Line to Ringwood Loop Line for the purposes of stabling and maintenance
  • New fly-over from the Upfield line onto the through suburban lines at North Melbourne (over other Northern Group tracks)
  • Bi-directional signalling at North Melbourne platform 1 to enable operation of city-bound and outbound Seymour services to Southern Cross

The package of works identified for this period will provide the following benefits:

  • Free up two viaduct tracks following removal of loop routing, effectively providing two new tracks through the city
  • Provide greater capacity for growing passenger demand on Craigieburn and Upfield lines and all Burnley express and local lines
  • Enhance service reliability through the full sectorisation of lines through the city and suburban sections
  • Enable quicker travel times for outbound journeys on the Burnley express line through segregation from local stopping services
  • Provide faster cross-town journeys by eliminating the need for passengers to backtrack or suffer layover time at Flinders Street
  • Extend the network connectivity for Burnley local services by providing direct through services to Southern Cross and the west
  • Facilitate easier cross-town travel through the city for all northern lines to employment, education and retail precincts clustered in the east
  • Provide a better balance in passenger loadings on trains bound for either the underground city stations (Flagstaff, Melbourne Central and Parliament) or the surface stations (Southern Cross and Flinders Street), as opposed to the heavily loaded loop services and relatively lightly loaded direct services terminating at Flinders Street
  • Simplify the rail network by providing direct access to and from all city stations at all times of the day, reducing current confusion and inconvenience associated with daytime loop reversals
  • Increase efficiency of train movements through the city by removing loop services
  • Reduce train congestion at Flinders Street by eliminating terminating and turnback manoeuvers for Burnley local services, thereby increasing train efficiency through reduced train fleet requirements
  • Enable the rationalisation of track and removal of excess point work in the central area to reduce maintenance requirements
  • Provide network capacity to enable new rail corridors to be built in future years to serve new developments in the northern outskirts as well as an express link to Melbourne Airport

Along with a clear visual showing how two small sections of tunnel result in such a large uplift in the overall passenger capacity.


Figure 16-3: Proposed reconfigured loop operation and train loadings – 2012 PTV Network Development Plan

While 2021 Infrastructure Victoria spoke of the best time to deliver the City Loop reconfiguration project – now.

The Melbourne Metro Tunnel will enable some new services on Craigieburn and Upfield lines, but these would reach capacity by the mid-2030s. If these new services were introduced without
reconfiguring the City Loop first, they would be heavily disrupted for long periods during the project’s construction, and affect many more passengers.

Reconfiguring the City Loop immediately after completing the Melbourne Metro Tunnel minimises disruptions to passengers, particularly as the realignment of the Cranbourne and Pakenham services through the Melbourne Metro Tunnel upon opening can leave one of the two loop tunnels affected by this project empty. The Victorian Government should start detailed design and planning quickly to identify critical works to undertake before the Melbourne Metro Tunnel is completed. This can avoid significant disruption to the network.

The window of opportunity to deliver the City Loop reconfiguration project will close as demand continues to increase, and the network may only temporarily have enough spare capacity to change train service patterns during construction to minimise passenger impacts.

The Victorian Government should complete a business case for the project within the next two years. Reconfiguring the City Loop would enable more frequent and reliable services by creating two high frequency separated lines connecting northern and south-eastern areas. The business case should consider timing, including starting the project immediately after the Melbourne Metro Tunnel is completed.

Footnote: passenger capacity at the stations themselves

Turns out running more trains isn’t the silver bullet to increasing the number of passengers able to travel – capacity on the escalators and through ticket gates at railway stations is another.

Wow - the morning queues at Flagstaff are getting even worse!

A problem also flagged in the 2012 PTV Network Development Plan:

16.8 City Loop station upgrades

Service frequencies through the City Loop stations will increase with the provision of high capacity signalling on the Clifton Hill Group and better utilisation of existing signalling systems on the other loops. Moreover, the connection of the Northern and Caulfield loops will result in a higher proportion of train loads alighting at the City Loop stations.

Preliminary investigations completed to date, utilising simulation software and focused on Parliament station at this stage, have indicated that some additional escalator capacity will be required as well as an enlargement of the forecourt areas and an increased number of barriers at the main entrances.

At this stage of the investigation, platform capacities do not appear to be an issue even though these are causing some concern at present. This is due to the fact that in future all trains through a given platform will be running to no more than two stopping patterns and destinations.

It is currently considered that additional escalator capacity can be provided by insertion of new escalators into the existing escalator banks. The extension of the forecourt areas is an at-surface construction issue that should not be overly complex.

Key benefits
• Ensure station access and platform capacity can support passenger movements at peak times
• Reduced congestion and therefore improved travel times at key CBD stations.

High level scope of works
• Install new escalators at City Loop stations
• Widen forecourt areas and install additional ticket barriers where necessary to improve throughput.

And which is being addressed at Melbourne Central station as part of the Metro Tunnel project, with two new escalators being installed between the concourse and platform 1/2 to cater for the increased number of interchange passengers once the adjacent State Library station opens.

'Building the new State Library Station' signage on the hoardings at the west end of Melbourne Central station where a second escalator is being added to the existing shaft towards platform 1 and 2

Further reading

Photos from ten years ago: February 2014

Another instalment in my photos from ten years ago series – this time it is February 2014.

Trams

We start off with me being featured in The Age on the subject of a tram stop in Ascot Vale that kept being hit by motorists.

I'm in the newspaper again!

Also on the tram front, I spotted Victoria Police offices pulling over a motorist who drove through a tram stop on Swanston Street.

Sign of the apocalypse - Victoria Police pull over a car that drove through a Swanston Street tram stop

Meanwhile on Flemington Road I found buses driving along the tram tracks.

Sita bus #123 rego 9381AO having dropped off route 59 passengers on Flemington Road

Route 59 trams terminating on Flemington Road due to the tram tracks along Mount Alexander Road in Travencore being replaced.

B2.2091 and Z3.190 wait for B2.2062 to shunt through the crossover on Flemington Road

These works also isolated Essendon Depot where trams would park at night, so the route 55 tracks through Royal Park were converted into a temporary stabling location.

B2.2070 and Z3.186 stabled in Royal Park

Which forced route 55 passengers onto replacement buses as well.

Dysons #174 rego 4298AO on a route 55 replacement service at Royal Park

Trains

Regional Rail Link is an ongoing theme in this series, and in February 2014 the original tracks through Footscray towards Sunshine had been dug up.

Work continues on rebuilding platforms 3 and 4 for RRL tracks

With both V/Line and suburban trains diverted onto the new platform 1 and 2 to allow the new V/Line track pair to be constructed.

N457 with a 6-car H set arrives into Footscray with a down Bacchus Marsh service

Privately owned automatic lockers were installed at the Swanston Street end of Melbourne Central station, only to be ripped out a few months later thanks to the ratcheting up of the national terrorism alert level.

Privately owned automatic lockers installed at the Swanston Street end of Melbourne Central station

But one thing that hasn’t changed is junk clogged up the entrance to Southern Cross Station – this month we had the ‘Exhibition of Lost Souls’ to promote the film ‘Wolf Creek 2’.

Shipping containers setup on the Collins Street concourse to promote the film 'Wolf Creek 2'

And a Victorian Government ‘use the Right Water’ promotion on the main concourse.

Victorian Government 'use the Right Water' promotion on the main concourse

And something I haven’t seen for a few years – Metro Trains Melbourne at the Chinese New Year festival in Chinatown, giving away free balloons.

Metro Trains Melbourne branded balloons at Melbourne's 2014 Chinese New Year festival

Down the pub

Remember the Savoy Tavern opposite Spencer Street Station?

'Savoy Tavern' sign outside the derelict pub

The 1970s pub lay derelict for 15 years, until it reopened in 2014 after a minor refurbishment – only to close again in 2016 when the site was cleared to make way for the apartment tower that is currently on the site.

Corner of Godfrey Street and Bourke Street

And a trip to Sydney

A friend invited me up to Sydney to visit, so I decided to turn it into a long weekend and spend the day on the train rather than fly. The XPT departed Southern Cross at 8.30am.

Daylight XPT awaiting departure from Southern Cross, with power car XP2011 in the lead

I jumped out for a quick photo at Albury.

Power car XP2011 leading the Sydney-bound XPT at Albury

Wagga Wagga.

Passengers leave and join the Sydney-bound XPT at Wagga Wagga

Cootamundra.

Northbound XPT stops at Cootamundra

And Goulburn.

Passengers leave and join the Sydney-bound XPT at Goulburn

Before we arrived into Sydney just on 8.30pm.

Main concourse of Sydney Central under renovation

The next day I visited the usual touristy spots, like Circular Quay.

P&O cruise ship 'Pacific Pearl' docked at the Overseas Passenger Terminal

The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Our ferry is about to pass beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge

And the Sydney Opera House.

Renovation works on the front steps of the  Sydney Opera House

Which was busy having the front steps replaced.

Renovation works on the front steps of the  Sydney Opera House

I can’t go anywhere without taking a photo of a train.

Set K82 arrives into Circular Quay on the City Inner track

But I’m a fan of ferries as well – modern ones like the Sydney RiverCats.

RiverCat 'Evonne Goolagong' at Circular Quay

And the classic Freshwater-class ferries on the Manly run.

Manly ferry 'Narrabeen' at Circular Quay

I also headed past the since demolished Sydney Harbour Control Tower and the then-incomplete Barangaroo development.

Sydney Harbour Control Tower with work on the Barangaroo development well underway

My destination – Cockatoo Island.

Heritage cranes beside the flooded dry dock at Cockatoo Island

A former shipyard.

Heritage cranes beside the flooded dry dock at Cockatoo Island

Unfortunately I didn’t have another spare day to catch the train home to Melbourne, so I was off to Sydney Airport.

Long lines at the Jetstar check-in desks

Sitting in a cheap seat with Jetstar.

Quick turnaround for Jetstar A320 VH-VQG at Melbourne

Who luckily took me right over the top of the Craigieburn Train Maintenance Facility in Melbourne’s north.

Looking down on Craigieburn Yard from the north

Footnote

Here you can find the rest of my ‘photos from ten years ago‘ series.

Farewell to V/Line’s H type carriage sets

On Friday 2 February 2024 V/Line retired the last of their ‘H’ type carriage sets that dated back to the 1980s, so I decided to go for a ride down to Geelong.

Carriage set SLH32 on arrival at Waurn Ponds behind N456

Some history

V/Line’s ‘H’ type carriage sets were originally built as ‘Harris’ suburban trains back in the 1950s.


SLV image H31188. Photographer unknown. Undated but circa 1956 to 1968.

In the 1980s the decision was made to refurbish the aging Harris trains, bringing them up to the same standards as the air conditioned Comeng suburban trains then being delivered.


Weston Langford photo

However the additional weight of the upgraded equipment and expense of asbestos removal from the bodyshells saw the economics of the program compared to the purchase of additional Comeng trains, so the refurbishment program was abandoned.

Instead, it was decided to convert the Harris trains into the ‘H’ type locomotive hauled carriages for the use on V/Line services to destinations such as Bacchus Marsh, Kyneton, Sunbury, Seymour and Leongatha.

A role they continued in throughout the 2000s.

N473 shunts around the carriage set at South Geelong

The delivery of the new VLocity railcars from 2005 was intended to allow the retirement of the H sets.

VLocity lineup at Southern Cross

But the increase in patronage thank to the Regional Fast Rail project and a 20% cut to V/Line fares saw the aging carriages retained and refurbished from 2007.

12:05 - Transport Minister Lyn Kosky pisses off already

And refurbished for a third time from 2020.

Carriage set SSH22 at Southern Cross platform 5

But then just a few years later V/Line decided they were were done with the H sets, and in December 2023 H sets were withdrawn from services to Bacchus Marsh.

N459 and carriage set SSH25 depart Bacchus Marsh on the supposed last H set run on the line

And the surplus carriage sets were sent to Echuca for storage, where they were quickly vandalised.


Video by ‘Rail Australia’

The last day

On 2 February 2024 the last two H sets were retired from service, their runs to Geelong being taken over by VLocity railcars.

I started my day at 5 am, catching the first train of the day down to Geelong.

VLocity VL09 and classmate arrive into Sunshine on the first down Geelong service of the day

There I found diesel locomotive N456 already coupled up to carriage set SLH33.

N456 shunts carriage set SLH33 out of the sidings at Geelong

Ready to shunt it out of the sidings.

N456 shunts carriage set SLH33 out of the sidings at Geelong

And into platform 2.

N456 shunts carriage set SLH33 out of the sidings and back into platform 2 at Geelong

To form the 7:23 am service to Melbourne

VLocity VL30 and classmate alongside N456 with carriage set SLH33 at Geelong

I opted to catch an earlier service to Lara, so I could photograph it’s arrival.

N456 leads carriage set SLH33 into Lara on the up

And then ride it though to Melbourne.

Onboard carriage set SLH33  for the last run to Melbourne

On arrival at Southern Cross, N456 ran around the carriages, as shunter Y163 pushed the carriages back into platform 4.

N456 runs around at Southern Cross platform 4, as Y163 shunts carriage set SLH33 back into the platform

Where the carriage set was stabled for the day.

Carriage set SLH33 stabled for the day at Southern Cross platform 4

The last run?

It was the turn of N468 to lead carriage set SLH33 back to Geelong that evening – I caught the train from Sunshine.

N468 leads carriage set SLH33 into Sunshine on it's last run to Geelong

And went through to Geelong.

N468 on arrival at Geelong platform 3 with the last run of carriage set SLH33

Geelong’s resident shunter Y129 arrived soon after to collect the carriage set.

Y129 shunts into Geelong platform 3 to collect carriage set SLH33

Pulling the set out of platform 3.

Y129 shunts carriage set SLH33 out of Geelong platform 3

And in a bizarre touch for something being retired – they sent it through the train wash!

Y129 shunts carriage set SLH33 through the train wash at Geelong

And then stabled it in the sidings.

Y129 shunts carriage set SLH33 back from the train wash and into the sidings at Geelong

And the actual last run

Turns out V/Line had some late running that day, and the N set rostered to run a down Waurn Ponds service wasn’t available to run that service, so V/Line pulled carriage set SLH32 out of storage at Southern Cross, having withdrawn it from service the day before – and pressed it back into service.

N456 leads carriage set SLH32 into Geelong on a down Waurn Ponds service

So I climbed aboard it at Geelong.

N456 pauses at Geelong with carriage set SLH32 on a down Waurn Ponds service

For the short trip to Waurn Ponds.

N456 and carriage set SLH32 on arrival at Waurn Ponds

On arrival the locomotive was uncoupled from the carriages.

N456 is uncoupled from carriage set SLH32 on arrival at Waurn Ponds

And ran around them via the main line.

N456 runs around carriage set SLH32 at Waurn Ponds

N456 then coupled onto the Melbourne end.

N456 is coupled back onto carriage set SLH32 at Waurn Ponds

And after an arriving VLocity train cleared the single track from Geelong.

VLocity VL103 and VL00 arrive into Waurn Ponds on the down

Departed Waurn Ponds for the yard at Geelong.

N456 departs Waurn Ponds with empty carriage set SLH32 bound for the yard at Geelong

The end for a train now over 65 years old.