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96-627: The Belgrave line is a commuter railway line on the Melbourne metropolitan railway network serving the city of Melbourne in Victoria , Australia . Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne , the line is coloured dark blue and is one of the four lines that constitute the Burnley group . It is the city's fourth-longest metropolitan railway line at 41.8 kilometres (26.0 mi). The line runs from Flinders Street station in central Melbourne to Belgrave station in

192-651: A city's central business district, and often share right-of-way with intercity or freight trains. Some services operate only during peak hours and others use fewer departures during off peak hours and weekends. Average speeds are high, often 50 km/h (30 mph) or higher. These higher speeds better serve the longer distances involved. Some services include express services which skip some stations in order to run faster and separate longer distance riders from short-distance ones. The general range of commuter trains' travel distance varies between 15 and 200 km (10 and 125 miles), but longer distances can be covered when

288-534: A combined operational length of 110 years. Hillside Trains was privatised in August 1999 and later rebranded Connex Melbourne . Metro Trains Melbourne , the current private operator, then took over the operations in 2009. Both private operators have had a combined operational period of 25 years. The Belgrave line forms a mostly curved route from the Melbourne central business district to its terminus in Belgrave. The route

384-413: A headway rather than a published timetable and use dedicated tracks (underground or elevated), whereas commuter rail often shares tracks, technology and the legal framework within mainline railway systems, and uses rolling stocks with more seating and higher speed for comfort on longer city-suburban journeys. However, the classification as a metro or rapid rail can be difficult as both may typically cover

480-577: A metropolitan area exclusively, run on separate tracks in the centre, and often feature purpose-built rolling stock. The fact that the terminology is not standardised across countries (even across English-speaking countries) further complicates matters. This distinction is most easily made when there are two (or more) systems such as New York's subway and the LIRR and Metro-North Railroad , Paris' Métro and RER along with Transilien , Washington D.C.'s Metro along with its MARC and VRE , London's tube lines of

576-493: A shuttle to Ringwood due to lower demand. On Friday nights and weekends, services run 24 hours a day, with 60 minute frequencies available outside of normal operating hours. Train services on the Belgrave line are also subjected to maintenance and renewal works, usually on selected Fridays and Saturdays. Shuttle bus services are provided throughout the duration of works for affected commuters. Legend — Station status Legend — Stopping patterns Some services do not operate via

672-399: A two three-car configuration, with three doors per side on each carriage, and can accommodate up to 432 seated passengers in each six car configuration. The trains were originally built between 2002 and 2004 as well as between 2009 and 2020, with a total of 212 three-car sets constructed. The trains are shared with 7 other metropolitan train lines and have been in service since 2003. Alongside

768-579: Is 41.8 kilometres (26.0 mi) long and predominantly double-tracked, however, between Flinders Street station and Richmond, the track is widened to 12 tracks, narrowing to 4 tracks between Richmond and Burnley before narrowing to 3 tracks between Burnley and Box Hill. Finally, the line narrows to two tracks between Box Hill and Ferntree Gully before narrowing to a single track to its terminus. After Ferntree Gully, passing loops and island platforms are present at Upper Ferntree Gully , Upwey , and Belgrave. After departing from its terminus at Flinders Street,

864-503: Is closely related to that of Adelaide Metro 's diesel-electric 3000 class railcars . The Comeng fleet has begun retirement, with many sets being transferred to North Shore and Tottenham to be stored. The stored sets eventually being transferred to Laverton , North Bendigo or McIntyre for scrapping. The fleet will eventually be replaced by the High Capacity Metro Trains (HCMT) and X'Trapolis 2.0 fleet. In 1979,

960-874: Is especially the case for lines operated by Korail , such as the Gyeongui-Jungang Line , the Gyeongchun Line , the Suin-Bundang Line , or the Gyeonggang Line . Even some lines not operated by Korail, such as the AREX Line, the Seohae Line or the Shinbundang Line mostly function as commuter rail. Lastly, even for the "numbered lines" (1–9) of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway which mostly travel in

1056-591: Is heavily used by commuters in the Greater Tokyo Area , who commute between 100 and 200 km (62 and 124 mi) by Shinkansen . To meet the demand of commuters, JR sells commuter discount passes. Before 2021, they operated 16-car bilevel E4 Series Shinkansen trains at rush hour, providing a capacity of 1,600 seats. Several lines in China, such as the Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway and

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1152-417: Is often a case of asset sweating , by using a single large combined fleet for intercity and regional services. Loco hauled services are usually run in push-pull formation, that is, the train can run with the locomotive at the "front" or "rear" of the train (pushing or pulling). Trains are often equipped with a control cab at the other end of the train from the locomotive, allowing the train operator to operate

1248-901: Is often used in contrast to rapid transit or light rail . Some services share similarities with both commuter rail and high-frequency rapid transit ; examples include German S-Bahn in some cities, the Réseau Express Régional (RER) in Paris, the S Lines in Milan, many Japanese commuter systems, the East Rail line in Hong Kong, and some Australasian suburban networks, such as Sydney Trains . Many commuter rail systems share tracks with other passenger services and freight . In North America, commuter rail sometimes refers only to systems that primarily operate during rush hour and offer little to no service for

1344-1884: Is one suburban rail called the Chittagong Circular Railway . Another suburban railway called the Dhaka Circular Railway is currently proposed. Karachi in Pakistan has a circular railway since 1969. Tehran Metro currently operates the Line 5 commuter line between Tehran and Karaj . Turkey has lines connecting Başkentray , İZBAN , Marmaray and Gaziray . Major metropolitan areas in most European countries are usually served by extensive commuter/suburban rail systems. Well-known examples include BG Voz in Belgrade (Serbia), S-Bahn in Germany, Austria and German-speaking areas of Switzerland, Proastiakos in Greece, RER in France and Belgium, Servizio ferroviario suburbano in Italy, Cercanías and Rodalies ( Catalonia ) in Spain, CP Urban Services in Portugal, Esko in Prague and Ostrava (Czech Republic), HÉV in Budapest (Hungary) and DART in Dublin (Ireland). London has multiple commuter rail routes: The Merseyrail network in Liverpool consists of two commuter rail routes powered by third rail, both of which branch out at one end. At

1440-470: Is operationally more like a typical metro system (frequent trains, an emphasis on standing passengers , short station spacings) than it is like commuter rail in other countries. Japanese commuter rail commonly interline with city center subway lines, with commuter rail trains continuing into the subway network, and then out onto different commuter rail systems on the other side of the city. Many Japanese commuter systems operate various stopping patterns to reduce

1536-526: Is still possible to tell them apart. Some operators, for example Thameslink , focus solely on commuter services. Others, such as Avanti West Coast and LNER , run solely intercity services. Others still, such as GWR and EMR , run a mixture of commuter, regional and intercity services. Some of these operators use different branding for different types of service (for example EMR brands its trains as either "InterCity", "Connect" for London commuter services, and "Regional") but even for those operators that do not,

1632-570: Is used in Australia (Sydney for example) to describe the regional trains operating beyond the boundaries of the suburban services, even though some of these "inter-city" services stop all stations similar to German regional services. In this regard, the German service delineations and naming conventions are clearer and better used for academic purposes. Sometimes high-speed rail can serve daily use of commuters. The Japanese Shinkansen high speed rail system

1728-426: Is widely used in many commuter rail trains to increase capacity in rush hours. Carriages are usually not organized to increase seating capacity (although in some trains at least one carriage would feature more doors to facilitate easier boarding and alighting and bench seats so that they can be folded up during rush hour to provide more standing room) even in the case of commuting longer than 50 km and commuters in

1824-582: The Ballarat Workshops and were scrapped in August 2010. In November 2012, 305M-1003T-306M crashed into a truck at Abbotts Road in Dandenong South. These cars were stored in Dandenong South near the crash site, visible from the Cranbourne Line until May 2014, when they were scrapped. Following the Dandenong South collision, set 583M-1022T-589M was withdrawn and stored at Newport Workshops. This set

1920-900: The Brisbane ( Queensland Rail 's City network ) and Perth ( Transperth ) systems in Australia, in some systems in Sweden, and on the Genoa-Casella line in Italy. Some countries and regions, including Finland , India, Pakistan, Russia , Brazil and Sri Lanka, as well as San Francisco ( BART ) in the US and Melbourne and Adelaide in Australia, use broad gauge track. Metro rail and rapid transit usually cover smaller inner-urban areas within 12 to 20 km (7 to 12 mi) of city centers, with shorter stop spacing, use rolling stocks with larger standing spaces, lower top speed and higher acceleration, designed for short-distance travel. They also run more frequently, to

2016-747: The Chennai MRTS , also covers over 300 stations and carries more than 2.5 million people daily to different areas in Chennai and its surroundings. Other commuter railways in India include the Hyderabad MMTS , Delhi Suburban Railway , Pune Suburban Railway and Lucknow-Kanpur Suburban Railway . In 2020, Government of India approved Bengaluru Suburban Railway to connect Bengaluru and its suburbs. It will be unique and first of its kind in India as it will have metro like facilities and rolling stock. In Bangladesh, there

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2112-519: The Greater Tokyo Area , Seoul metropolitan area , and Jabodetabek area have to stand in the train for more than an hour. Currently there are not many examples of commuter rail in Africa . Metrorail operates in the major cities of South Africa , and there are some commuter rail services in Algeria , Botswana , Kenya , Morocco , Egypt and Tunisia . In Algeria, SNTF operates commuter rail lines between

2208-811: The Guangshen Railway have more frequent metro-like service. The two MTR lines which are owned and formerly operated by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation ( East Rail line and Tuen Ma line which is integrated from the former West Rail line and Ma On Shan line in 2021), then the "KCR" ), and MTR's own Tung Chung line connect the new towns in New Territories and the city centre Kowloon together with frequent intervals, and some New Territories-bound trains terminate at intermediate stations, providing more frequent services in Kowloon and

2304-571: The Jakarta city center with surrounding cities and sub-urbans in Banten and West Java provinces, including Depok , Bogor , Tangerang , Serpong , Rangkasbitung , Bekasi and Cikarang . In July 2015, KRL Commuterline served more than 850,000 passengers per day, which is almost triple of the 2011 figures, but still less than 3.5% of all Jabodetabek commutes. Other commuter rail systems in Indonesia include

2400-947: The Metro Surabaya Commuter Line , Commuter Line Bandung , KAI Commuter Yogyakarta–Solo Line , Kedung Sepur , and the Sri Lelawangsa . In the Philippines, the Philippine National Railways has two commuter rail systems currently operational; the PNR Metro Commuter Line in the Greater Manila Area and the PNR Bicol Commuter in the Bicol Region . A new commuter rail line in Metro Manila,

2496-597: The North–South Commuter Railway , is currently under construction. Its North section is set to be partially opened by 2021. In Malaysia, there are two commuter services operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu . They are the KTM Komuter that serves Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding Klang Valley area , and the KTM Komuter Northern Sector that serves Greater Penang , Perak , Kedah and Perlis in

2592-753: The Shanghai–Nanjing High-Speed Railway , serve a similar role with many more under construction or planned. In South Korea, some sections of the high-speed rail network are also heavily used by commuters, such as the section between Gwangmyeong Station and Seoul Station on the KTX network ( Gyeongbu HSR Line ), or the section between Dongtan Station and Suseo station on the SRT Line. The high-speed services linking Zürich , Bern and Basel in Switzerland (200 km/h (120 mph)) have brought

2688-759: The Southern Hemisphere . This section was then reverted to Staff and Ticket safeworking in 1930. Electrification of the railway to Upper Ferntree Gully was implemented in November 1925. Following a landslide in 1953, the narrow-gauge line was formally closed in April 1954, although services resumed as far as Belgrave for some "farewell specials", and then for the Puffing Billy Preservation Society until services ceased again in February 1958. The line

2784-589: The Staff and Ticket system but was converted to automatic signalling in March 1964, with the section from Ferntree Gully to Upper Ferntree Gully being converted the following day. Ringwood to Bayswater was converted to automatic signalling in June 1974, as was Bayswater to Ferntree Gully in July 1977. In December 1982, Ringwood -Bayswater was duplicated. The Comeng trains were introduced to

2880-573: The Underground and the Overground , Elizabeth line , Thameslink along with other commuter rail operators , Madrid's Metro and Cercanías , Barcelona's Metro and Rodalies , and Tokyo's subway and the JR lines along with various privately owned and operated commuter rail systems. Regional rail usually provides rail services between towns and cities, rather than purely linking major population hubs in

2976-592: The Yamanote Line , Keihin Tohoku Line , Chūō–Sōbu Line services arguably are more akin to rapid transit with frequent stops, simple stopping patterns (relative to other JR East lines) no branching services and largely serving the inner suburbs; other services along the Chūō Rapid Line , Sōbu Rapid Line / Yokosuka Line , Ueno–Tokyo Line , Shōnan–Shinjuku Line etc. are mid-distance services from suburban lines in

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3072-407: The (691M-698M) motors and (1196T-1199T) trailers were included in the new Metro contract, which saw them retired out of service. Half of these units were stored at Newport Workshops, while the other half have been supplying parts to the remaining Comeng units in service. In 2018, Comeng set 313M-1007T-314M and 367M-1034T-368M were withdrawn from service and stored at Newport Workshops. In 2019, it

3168-495: The 300 km/h (186 mph) Nuremberg–Ingolstadt high-speed railway . The regional trains Stockholm – Uppsala , Stockholm– Västerås , Stockholm– Eskilstuna and Gothenburg – Trollhättan in Sweden reach 200 km/h (120 mph) and have many daily commuters. In Great Britain , the HS1 domestic services between London and Ashford runs at a top speed of 225 km/h, and in peak hours

3264-605: The Belgrave line operates from approximately 5:00 am to around 12:00 daily. In general, during peak hours, train frequency is ~7 minutes on the Ringwood corridor (combined with the Lilydale line ) and 15 minutes in the AM peak on the Belgrave Line while during non-peak hours the frequency is reduced to 20–30 minutes throughout the entire route. During certain periods of the day, services operate as

3360-426: The Belgrave line run in a two three-car formations of X'Trapolis 100 trainsets. Sections of the Belgrave line opened as early as 1889, with the line fully extended and re-gauged to Belgrave by 1962. The line was built to connect Melbourne and Ringwood with the rural towns of Bayswater , Boronia , Upper Ferntree Gully , and Belgrave , among others. Since the 2010s, due to the heavily utilised infrastructure of

3456-406: The Belgrave line traverses both flat and hilly country, with some curves (more towards the end of the line) and fairly significant earthworks for parts of the line. Sections of the line have been elevated or lowered into a cutting to eliminate level crossings . Despite some removals, there are a small number of level crossings still present, with no current plans to remove them. The line follows

3552-472: The Belgrave line, significant improvements and upgrades have been made. Different packages of work have upgraded the corridor to replace sleepers , upgraded signalling technology, introduced new rolling stock, and removed seven of the nine remaining level crossings . A rail branch was constructed from Ringwood to Upper Ferntree Gully in December 1889. A narrow-gauge 762 mm ( 2 ft 6 in ) line

3648-517: The Central Business Districts (CBDs) of these three cities within 1 hour of each other. This has resulted in unexpectedly high demand for new commuter trips between the three cities and a corresponding increase in suburban rail passengers accessing the high-speed services at the main city-centre stations ( Hauptbahnhof ). The Regional-Express commuter service between Munich and Nuremberg in Germany runs at 200 km/h (120 mph) on

3744-656: The City Loop The Belgrave line has had a total of 6 operators since its opening in 1889. The majority of operations throughout its history have been government run: from its first service in 1889 until the 1999 privatisation of Melbourne's rail network, four different government operators have run the line. These operators, Victorian Railways , the Metropolitan Transit Authority , the Public Transport Corporation , and Hillside Trains have

3840-532: The Comeng trains would be taken out of service if their doors were not made impossible to force open by 2017. From 2017 to 2021, the entirety of the existing Comeng fleet undertook a $ 75 million life extension refurbishment program with a number of upgrades taking place in order to allow the fleet to operate reliably and safely for at least another decade prior to their retirement. These upgrades were carried out in stages (1, 2 & 3), focusing on external, internal, mechanical and safety system upgrades. Stage 1 of

3936-459: The EDI refurbished trains (from M>Train ) had the M>Train exterior logos removed with a new Connex logo in its place alongside a repainted front panel. The trains also later received Connex blue and yellow side stripes, new seat fabric with the Connex branding. From December 2006 both fleets were allowed to run system wide. The electronics of both Comeng types were altered to make them electronically compatible with each other, with both

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4032-402: The East Rail Line share tracks with intercity trains to mainland China . The three KCR lines are integrated into the MTR network since 2008 and most passengers do not need to exit and re-enter the system through separate fare gates and purchase separate tickets to transfer between such lines and the rest of the network (the exceptions are between the Tuen Ma line's East Tsim Sha Tsui station and

4128-420: The Melbourne rail network. Comeng trains still require passengers to manually open saloon doors to enter and exit the trains. Pneumatic air pressure keeps the doors closed whilst the trains are in motion, and is released by the driver when the carriages stop at station platforms. Prior to 2014, the doors were fitted with large "door knob" style handles. These made it relatively easy for unruly passengers to force

4224-406: The Melbourne railway system in 1981, alongside the opening of the City Loop . Initially, along with the Belgrave line, they were only allowed to operate on the Alamein , Dandenong , Glen Waverley and Lilydale lines due to the trains 3.05-metre width. A 2007 restructure of train ticketing in Melbourne involved the removal of Zone 3, with these stations being re-classified to Zone 2. This brought

4320-433: The Netherlands carry many commuters, while their equipment, range, and speeds are similar to those of commuter trains in some larger countries. The United Kingdom has a privatised rail system, with different routes and services covered by different private operators. The distinction between commuter and intercity rail is not as clear as it was before privatisation (when InterCity existed as a brand of its own), but usually it

4416-424: The PID voices and display formatting altered. Both types of Comeng can run system wide and can run in multiple unit with trains of the same or different type. From the beginning of March 2009, Connex ran a test set of carriages with new seating arrangement on city lines. The new arrangements removed 44 seats, making room for more standing on the train. The changes were made to accommodate the increased patronage on

4512-411: The Tsuen Wan line's Tsim Sha Tsui station . In Taiwan, the Western line in the Taipei - Taoyuan Metropolitan Area, Taichung Metropolitan Area and Tainan - Kaohsiung Metropolitan Area as well as the Neiwan - Liujia line in the Hsinchu Area are considered commuter rail. In South Korea, the Seoul Metropolitan Subway includes a total of 22 lines, and some of its lines are suburban lines. This

4608-467: The capital Algiers and its southern and eastern suburbs. They also serve to connect Algiers ' main universities to each other. The Dar es Salaam commuter rail offers intracity services in Dar es Salaam , Tanzania. In Botswana, the ( Botswana Railways ) "BR Express" has a commuter train between Lobatse and Gaborone . In Japan, commuter rail systems have extensive network and frequent service and are heavily used. In many cases, Japanese commuter rail

4704-555: The cities east, serving 31 stations via Burnley , Box Hill , Ringwood , and Upper Ferntree Gully . Beyond Belgrave, the narrow-gauge line has been restored as the Puffing Billy Railway , which runs tourist services to the original terminus of Gembrook . The line operates for approximately 19 hours a day (from approximately 5:00 am to around 12:00 am) with 24 hour service available on Friday and Saturday nights. During peak hours, headways of up to 15 minutes are operated, with services every 20–30 minutes during off-peak hours. Trains on

4800-409: The cost of train fares down, improving system accessibility for the public. In April 2016, plans to potentially run a regular revenue Tait set service on the Belgrave line was announced. This came following La Trobe MP Jason Wood's push for the idea as part of the greater "Puffing Billy master plan". The Tait service would be aimed at tourists visiting Puffing Billy . In November 2016, $ 1 million

4896-549: The decade. As of 27 April 2022, 44 3-car Comeng sets have been retired out of 189 3-car sets in service at the formation of Metro Trains Melbourne . On 9 February 2022, the first Comeng unit was scrapped since 2014. This saw the scrapping of set 338M-1092T-484M at Dandenong South. Subsequently, there have been 70 3-car Comeng sets scrapped as of 30 May 2024. On 12 June 2022, the last of the Stage 1 Comengs (331M-1050T-400M & 393M-1048T-394M) were transferred to Newport Workshops to be decommissioned. All remaining Comeng sets of

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4992-417: The dense parts of Seoul, some track sections extend far outside of the city, and operate large sections at ground level, such as on the Line 1 , Line 3 and Line 4 . In Busan, the Donghae Line , while part of the Busan Metro system, mostly functions as a commuter rail line. In Indonesia , the KRL Commuterline is the largest commuter rail system in the country, serving the Greater Jakarta . It connects

5088-406: The doors open, including while the train was in motion. All carriages were retrofitted with a new flat slim handle designed to make doors more difficult to force open. This followed an incident at Watergardens railway station where teenagers forced open a door on a moving train and one jumped out, injuring himself. Alan Osbourne, then director of Transport Safety Victoria (TSV), informed Metro that

5184-499: The driver. The trains were the first suburban trains in Melbourne to have air-conditioning in the passenger saloon. (The older Hitachi trains had driver only air-conditioning fitted more recently. ) They operate in larger numbers on the Northern, Caulfield, Cross City and Sandringham group lines. Since 2017, it has been rare to see Comengs on the Burnley and Clifton Hill group lines which are serviced almost exclusively by newer X'Trapolis trains. The design of Melbourne's Comeng trains

5280-437: The earlier 'tread brake' variety are now EDI refurbishments, as of September 2022 all Alstom refurbished sets in this group had been withdrawn. As by this date, one chopper set (693M-1197T-694M) has been scrapped. In June 2023, all Alstom tread brake Comeng sets have been scrapped, having only receiving the stage 1 life extension upgrades. 359M-1030T-360M was the final stage 1 Alstom refurbished set to be scrapped. By this date,

5376-485: The existing Comeng fleet undertaking the stage 2 refurbishment. In addition to the stage 1 upgrades, the stage 2 upgrades include: Stage 3 of the life extension refurbishment works focused on communications and additional mechanical upgrades, with 31% of the Comeng fleet, namely the disc brake units, having been further enhanced with these upgrades. These sets will more than likely be the last Comeng sets to remain in service when they will be eventually retired. In addition to

5472-416: The former BR 's Regional Railways , France's TER ( Transport express régional ), Germany's Regionalexpress and Regionalbahn , and South Korea's Tonggeun and Mugunghwa-ho services. In some European countries, the distinction between commuter trains and long-distance/intercity trains is subtle, due to the relatively short distances involved. For example, so-called " intercity " trains in Belgium and

5568-467: The halfway point through the order. On the side (above each door) was the quote "45th Super Train from The Met", and the sides also displayed the number 45 in large Numerals below the windows. This was found on two sets, 477M-1089T-478M and 479M-1090T-480M. These had been removed by 1 February 1991. 477M-1089T-478M still remains in service, but 479M-1090T-480M was stored at North Shore before being scrapped in early 2022. The final Comeng set to enter service

5664-844: The infrastructure evaluation carriage, designed for general infrastructure evaluation. Most of these trains are repurposed locomotives previously used by V/Line , Metro Trains, and the Southern Shorthaul Railroad . growing in age. Comeng was the final nail in the coffin. All stations that are new or rebuilt are fully accessible. Projects improving station accessibility have included the Level Crossing Removal Project, which involves station rebuilds and upgrades, and individual station upgrade projects. These works have made significant strides in improving network accessibility, with more than 58% of Belgrave line stations classified as fully accessible. The Belgrave line uses three-position signalling with automatic block signalling (ABS) and automatic and track control (ATC) safeworking systems. Three position signalling

5760-458: The life extension refurbishment works revolved only on exterior modifications, with much of the mechanical and safety systems remaining the same and their interiors largely unaltered from their 2014/2015 modifications. 25% of the existing Comeng fleet undertook only the stage 1 life extension refurbishment. The stage 1 upgrades include: Stage 2 of the life extension refurbishment works concentrated on both interior and mechanical upgrades, with 75% of

5856-434: The major withdrawals (from 2021 onwards): 315M, 388M, 1165T, 1109T, 533M, 305M, 1003T and 306M. 315M was burnt out at Hurstbridge on 9 April 1983, along with Tait 472M, 388M was hit by V/Line locomotive N457 at Officer , 1165T was burnt out at Northcote , 1109T was damaged in a collision with Comeng 634M at Epping , while 533M was burnt out by vandals at Merlynston in April 2002. Both 1109T and 533M were stored at

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5952-402: The middle of 1984, 76 sets had been delivered, and some of the older trains, including the last of the Tait rolling stock, had begun to be phased out. Following the operational problems and subsequent failed refurbishment of the Harris fleet, the initial order was increased from 100 to 190 3-car sets, with the aim of completely replacing both the Tait and Harris sets by 1988. Set 381M-1041T-382M

6048-502: The northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. In Thailand, the Greater Bangkok Commuter rail and the Airport Rail Link serve the Bangkok Metropolitan Region . The SRT Red Lines , a new commuter line in Bangkok, started construction in 2009. It opened in 2021. Another commuter rail system in Southeast Asia is the Yangon Circular Railway in Myanmar . In India, commuter rail systems are present in major cities and form an important part of people's daily lives. Mumbai Suburban Railway ,

6144-889: The number expected to rise even higher upon full completion of the Acharnes Railway Center . Eskişehir-Ankara and Konya-Ankara high speed train routes serve as high speed commuter trains in Turkey. Commuter/suburban trains are usually optimized for maximum passenger volume, in most cases without sacrificing too much comfort and luggage space, though they seldom have all the amenities of long-distance trains. Cars may be single- or double-level , and aim to provide seating for all. Compared to intercity trains, they have less space, fewer amenities and limited baggage areas. Commuter rail trains are usually composed of multiple units , which are self-propelled, bidirectional, articulated passenger rail cars with driving motors on each (or every other) bogie . Depending on local circumstances and tradition they may be powered either by diesel engines located below

6240-417: The oldest suburban rail system in Asia, carries more than 7.24 million commuters on a daily basis which constitutes more than half of the total daily passenger capacity of the Indian Railways itself. Kolkata Suburban Railway , one of the largest suburban railway networks in the world, consists of more than 450 stations and carries more than 3.5 million commuters per day. The Chennai Suburban Railway along with

6336-439: The operator of the Melbourne rail network at the time VicRail , placed an initial order for 100 new 3-car train sets, with the intention of replacing the last of the Tait sets and the majority of the Harris sets. The contract was awarded to Commonwealth Engineering , with the trains being manufactured at Comeng's Dandenong rolling stock factory . The first Comeng set, 301M-1001T-302M, entered service on 28 September 1981. By

6432-414: The other, the Northern line continues out of the city centre to a mainline rail interchange, while the Wirral line has a city-centre loop. Comeng (train) The Comeng ( / ˈ k ɒ m ɛ n dʒ / KOM -enj ) is a class of electric multiple unit (EMU) operating on the suburban railway network of Melbourne . Built by their namesake Commonwealth Engineering (abbreviated as Comeng),

6528-581: The outer reaches of Greater Tokyo through operating into these lines to form a high frequency corridor though central Tokyo. Other commuter rail routes in Japan include: Commuter rail systems have been inaugurated in several cities in China such as Beijing , Shanghai , Zhengzhou , Wuhan , Changsha and the Pearl River Delta . With plans for large systems in northeastern Zhejiang , Jingjinji , and Yangtze River Delta areas. The level of service varies considerably from line to line ranging high to near high speeds. More developed and established lines such as

6624-423: The passenger compartment ( diesel multiple units ) or by electricity picked up from third rails or overhead lines ( electric multiple units ). Multiple units are almost invariably equipped with control cabs at both ends, which is why such units are so frequently used to provide commuter services, due to the associated short turn-around time. Locomotive hauled services are used in some countries or locations. This

6720-425: The passenger trains, Belgrave line tracks and equipment are maintained by a fleet of engineering trains. The four types of engineering trains are: the shunting train, designed for moving trains along non-electrified corridors and for transporting other maintenance locomotives; for track evaluation; designed for evaluating track and its condition, the overhead inspection train; designed for overhead wiring inspection, and

6816-546: The rail line goes through built-up suburbs, however, the rail line becomes peri-urban towards its terminus in Belgrave. The line serves 31 stations across the 49-kilometre (30-mile)-long track. The stations are a mix of elevated, lowered, underground, and ground level designs. Underground stations are present in the City Loop and Box Hill, with the majority of elevated and lowered stations being constructed as part of level crossing removals. The Belgrave line uses X'Trapolis 100 electric multiple unit (EMU) trains operating in

6912-489: The rail line in May 2023. The removals also included closing Mont Albert and Surrey Hills stations, with a new station built in-between called " Union ." The final crossing to be removed on the corridor was at Bedford Road in Ringwood by also lowering the rail line, completed in March 2024. At the conclusion of these removals, only two crossings remain, both in the section between Ferntree Gully and Upper Ferntree Gully. Services on

7008-499: The rail line under the road. These two removals also included a rebuilt Bayswater station and upgraded stabling facilities. A further two crossings were removed at Blackburn Road, Blackburn , and Heatherdale Road, Ringwood in January 2017. Both of these removals also involved lowering the rail line under the road, with a rebuilt Heatherdale station built as part of the project. Union and Mont Albert Roads were also been removed by lowering

7104-505: The remaining chopper sets have all been scrapped. As of 17 May 2024, this leaves only 58 Alstom refurbished disc brake sets and 57 EDI refurbished tread brake sets in revenue service. All of the Comeng's in revenue service are most EDI stage 2's and all Alstom stage 3's. All of these sets retired were all Stage 1's and some Stage 2's. 70 Comeng carriages have been scrapped or removed from service. Eight carriages have been scrapped prior to

7200-552: The rest of the day, with regional rail being used to refer to systems that offer all-day service. Most commuter (or suburban) trains are built to main line rail standards, differing from light rail or rapid transit (metro rail) systems by: Compared to rapid transit (or metro rail), commuter/suburban rail often has lower frequency , following a schedule rather than fixed intervals, and fewer stations spaced further apart. They primarily serve lower density suburban areas (non inner-city), generally only having one or two stops in

7296-536: The same right-of-way can drastically reduce system construction costs. However, frequently they are built with dedicated tracks within that right-of-way to prevent delays, especially where service densities have converged in the inner parts of the network. Most such trains run on the local standard gauge track. Some systems may run on a narrower or broader gauge. Examples of narrow gauge systems are found in Japan, Indonesia , Malaysia , Thailand , Taiwan, Switzerland, in

7392-533: The same alignment as the Alamein, Glen Waverley, and Lilydale lines, with the four services splitting onto different routes at Burnley. The Alamein, Belgrave, and Lilydale services continue till the Alamein line splits off at Camberwell, with the two services continuing together till Ringwood. After departing Ringwood station , the Belgrave line heads south, with the Lilydale line heading in an eastern direction. Almost all of

7488-424: The stage 2 upgrades, the stage 3 upgrades include: The life extension refurbishment program was completed by the end of 2021 with 75% of the Comeng units having undergone the stages 2/3 upgrades. As of June 2023, all stage 1 sets, along with some stage 2 sets have been scrapped, having since been replaced by the High Capacity Metro Trains . In November 2017, none of the remaining Comeng chopper carriages including

7584-461: The towns closer to Kowloon. They use rolling stocks with a faster maximum speed and have longer stop spacing compared to other lines which only run in the inner urban area, but in order to maximise capacity and throughput, these rolling stocks have longitudinal seatings, 5 pairs of doors in each carriage with large standing spaces like the urban lines, and run as frequent as well. Most of the sections of these four lines are overground and some sections of

7680-515: The train from either end. The motive power for locomotive-hauled commuter trains may be either electric or diesel–electric , although some countries, such as Germany and some of the former Soviet-bloc countries, also use diesel–hydraulic locomotives. In the US and some other countries, a three-and-two seat plan is used. Middle seats on these trains are often less popular because passengers feel crowded and uncomfortable. In Japan, South Korea and Indonesia, longitudinal (sideways window-lining) seating

7776-549: The trains can be full with commuters standing. The Athens Suburban Railway in Greece consists of five lines, 4 of which are electrified. The Kiato – Piraeus line and the Aigio – Airport lines reach speeds of up to 180 km/h (112 mph). The Athens – Chalcis line is also expected to attain speeds of up to 200 km/h (124 mph) upon upgrading of the SKA–Oinoi railway sector. These lines also have many daily commuters, with

7872-517: The trains run between two or several cities (e.g. S-Bahn in the Ruhr area of Germany). Distances between stations may vary, but are usually much longer than those of urban rail systems. In city centres the train either has a terminal station or passes through the city centre with notably fewer station stops than those of urban rail systems. Toilets are often available on-board trains and in stations. Their ability to coexist with freight or intercity services in

7968-576: The trains were introduced in 1981 as a replacement for the Tait and Harris trains. In total, 190 three-car trainsets were built, although only 115 remain in service and are expected to be retired by 2030. The fleet underwent two major refurbishments. The first, a mid-life refurbishment, was carried out from 2000 to 2003 by Alstom and EDi Rail . The second, named the Comeng Life Extension Project, completed between 2017 and 2021, aimed to extend

8064-544: The trains' lifespan to meet their gradual replacement by the High Capacity Metro Trains and the X'Trapolis 2.0 trains. Alongside these upgrades, a number of minor improvement programs were also conducted on the trains to further enhance their efficiency, safety, and reliability. Comeng trains are single deck and are semi-permanently coupled as M-T-M (motor-trailer-motor) sets. Most frequently, they are coupled as M-T-M-M-T-M (six-car) sets. Comeng trains have power operated doors that must be pulled open by hand but are closed by

8160-465: The travel time to distant locations, often using station passing loops instead of dedicated express tracks. It is notable that the larger Japanese commuter rail systems are owned and operated by for-profit private railway companies, without public subsidy. East Japan Railway Company operates a large suburban train network in Tokyo with various lines connecting the suburban areas to the city center. While

8256-574: The type of train, amenities offered, and stopping pattern, usually tell the services apart. Russian commuter trains , on the other hand, frequently cover areas larger than Belgium itself, although these are still short distances by Russian standards. They have a different ticketing system from long-distance trains, and in major cities they often operate from a separate section of the train station. Some consider "inter-city" service to be that which operates as an express service between two main city stations, bypassing intermediate stations. However, this term

8352-470: The way inter-city rail does. Regional rail operates outside major cities. Unlike Inter-city, it stops at most or all stations between cities. It provides a service between smaller communities along the line that are often byproducts of ribbon developments , and also connects with long-distance services at interchange stations located at junctions, terminals, or larger towns along the line. Alternative names are "local train" or "stopping train". Examples include

8448-477: Was 697M-1199T-698M on 24 July 1989. Between 2000 and 2003, the two train operators at the time, Connex and M>Train , had Alstom and EDi Rail respectively refurbish the trains. The Alstom and EDi Rail sets have a number of differences, including: Both sets had CCTV and emergency assistance panels introduced and installed as part of the refurbishment program. After Connex assumed responsibility for all of Melbourne's suburban train network in 2004,

8544-663: Was committed to restoring a Tait set currently stored at the Newport Workshops . The Tait service is expected to originate at Flinders Street station as a direct service to Belgrave bypassing the City Loop. The Level Crossing Removal Project has announced the removal of seven level crossings between the city and Ferntree Gully station , to be completed in stages from 2016 to 2025. In 2016, two level crossings were removed at Mountain Highway and Scoresby Road, Bayswater ,through lowering

8640-406: Was first introduced on the line in 1919, with the final section of the line converted to the new type of signalling by 1960. Automatic and track control are used with the centre line between Burnley and Box Hill, and between Ferntree Gully and the line's terminus in Belgrave. Commuter rail The term can refer to systems with a wide variety of different features and service frequencies, but

8736-486: Was opened from Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook station in December 1900, the second of four experimental narrow-gauge lines built by the Victorian Railways . These two lines would become joined and standardised to form the Belgrave railway line in the 20th century. In 1921, the narrow-gauge section from Upper Ferntree Gully to Belgrave was converted to automatic signalling, the first such instance on single track in

8832-436: Was partly burnt out at Gowrie in 1994. Spare cars 672M and 1186T, which were made redundant after 671M was burnt, underwent a prototype refurbishment before being stored. 671M is currently in use by Fire Rescue Victoria for firefighter training. On 25 February 2019, EDI Comeng 333M collided with a buffer stop at the end of a stabling siding at Newport. The train was withdrawn from service and previously stored EDI Comeng 314M

8928-407: Was partly duplicated between Bayswater and Lower Ferntree Gully (now Ferntree Gully) in February 1957. The closing of the narrow-gauge line to Gembrook enabled the first stage of its planned rebuilding to Emerald as part of the suburban electrified system to proceed. This first stage, as far as Belgrave, of the new, broad-gauge, electrified extension opened in February 1962. It initially operated on

9024-566: Was revealed that if the X'Trapolis 2.0 was made, the Comengs could be out of service as early as 2026. However, it is most likely that the final Comeng set will be withdrawn closer to 2030. On 21 August 2021, retired Comeng sets 321M-1107T-320M and 363M-1032T-364M were transferred to North Shore. These sets were replaced with the High Capacity Metro Trains, starting a long process of the retirement of Comeng sets, likely to take most of

9120-471: Was the first delivered in the Metropolitan Transit green and yellow scheme, though the sets including 27T and 28T had been repainted (with those cars renumbered 1027T and 1028T respectively) before then. Notably, when the 41st set was delivered the front panels of the motor carriages were still silver-framed rather than yellow. The 45th set delivered had custom decals applied to the sides celebrating

9216-542: Was trailing 305M-1003T-306M but received significantly less damage. It never re-entered service and was later scrapped during the major withdrawals, being the first disc brake series set to be scrapped. Another four carriages have been stored: 500M, 671M, 672M, and 1186T. 500M was burnt out at Sandringham in 2002 and can be seen in a yard close to the North Williamstown station side of the Newport railway workshops. 671M

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