Comeng (train)
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- The term 'Comeng' originally defined the company COMmonwealth ENGineering which, among others things, manufactured Melbourne's A, B and Z class trams, some Sydney R, L & S class double-decker trains and Brisbane buses, although now is popularly used to define Melbourne's Comeng Trains.
The Comeng train is a type of electric train that operates on the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Australia. 570 carriages (380 M cars and 190 T cars) were introduced into VicRail in 1981 to replace wooden rollingstock, and built by Comeng (Commonwealth Engineering) at their Dandenong factory. They also introduced air-conditioning to the passenger carriages (the older Hitachi trains having had driver air-conditioning only) [1]. The design of Melbourne's Comeng trains is closely related to that of TransAdelaide's diesel-electric 3000 class railcars.
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[edit] Description
The Comeng trains are single deck and are semi-permanently coupled as M-T-M (motor-trailer-motor) sets, but spend much of their time coupled in pairs to make six-carriage sets. Comeng trains have power operated doors that must be pulled open by hand but are closed by the driver. This feature makes it more difficult for frail or disabled people to open the train doors. The newer X'Trapolis and Siemens trains have doors with push button door opening systems, which alleviates this problem.
[edit] Refurbishment
From 2000 to 2003, the two train operators at the time, Connex and the now defunct M>Train, introduced a refurbishment program for the trains. Connex had Alstom refurbish their trains, while EDi Rail refurbished M>Train's trains.
These trains all had operator-specific livery applied. Later, Connex had the livery of former M>Train rollingstock replaced with their own, matching the livery of trains originally running through Connex.
The Alstom and EDi Rail sets actually have a few differences, including:
- A different interior arrangement - The interior LED displays on the M>Train Comeng trains were in the middle, as opposed to being at both ends of the carriage on Connex sets.
- Different upholstery - Seats in M>Train Comeng trains are blue, while Connex opted for rainbow-textured seats.
- Different seating arrangement - Connex provided a different seating layout to M>Train.
- Different exterior front panels - Information on the train's terminus is displayed on top of the window on M>Train fleets, while Connex trains have them displaying on the left window (in the pre-refurbishment style).
- Different cab layout - The EDI Comeng trains are fitted with a second full-size seat on the right-hand side of the cab, whereas the Alstom sets only have a small seat, the same size as the passenger ones. The EDI Comeng trains also have a windscreen-wiper on both sides, the Alstom sets only having one on the drivers side.
Both sets had CCTV and emergency assistance panels added as part of the refurbishment program.
[edit] Retired trains
A damaged Comeng carriage can be seen in a yard close to the North Williamstown station side of the Newport railway workshops. Carriages 315M, 388M and 1165T were scrapped - 315M was burnt at Hurstbridge, 388M was hit by V/Line locomotive N457 and 1165T was burnt at Northcote.
[edit] Services
As of the 27th December 2006, EDI and Alstom Comengs are free to run on all lines and some run as mixed 6 car (Alstom - EDI) sets, which did not happen during the Connex take over of the former M>Train network. It is not rare to see 6 car sets of the same kind.
[edit] Clients
- KCR - Light Rail
[edit] External links
| Types of suburban trains in Melbourne |
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Tait | Swing Door | Harris | Hitachi | Comeng | X'Trapolis | Siemens |
| Railways in Melbourne |
