Comeng (train)

The Comeng (/ˈkɒmɛndʒ/ KOM-enj) is a class of electric multiple unit (EMU) operating on the suburban railway network of Melbourne.

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 have power operated doors that must be pulled open by hand but are closed by the driver.

[4]) 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 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 contract was awarded to Commonwealth Engineering, with the trains being manufactured at Comeng's Dandenong rolling stock factory.

By 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.

From the beginning of March 2009, Connex ran a test set of carriages with new seating arrangement on city lines.

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.

These made it relatively easy for unruly passengers to force 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 the Comeng trains would be taken out of service if their doors were not made impossible to force open by 2017.

After it was deemed successful, from November 2023, the rest of the Comeng fleet started to receive the new horns, and was completed in late March 2024.

[1] In June 2023, all Alstom tread brake Comeng sets have been scrapped, having only receiving the stage 1 life extension upgrades.

These cars were stored in Dandenong South near the crash site, visible from the Cranbourne Line until May 2014, when they were scrapped.

500M was burnt out at Sandringham in 2002[23] and can be seen in a yard close to the North Williamstown station side of the Newport railway workshops.

A now-scrapped unrefurbished Comeng set in its original Metropolitan Transit Authority livery
An M>Train liveried Comeng 477M as delivered after refurbishment by EDi Rail . The brand went defunct in 2004, leaving Connex to take over all Comeng operations.
A Connex liveried Comeng set, probably 568M-1134T-567M, as refurbished by Alstom between 2000 and 2003, arrives into Tooronga station.
Former horn of an EDI refurbished Comeng, a Roy Victor Butler (RVB) 3 Chime Horn. This was replaced with the newer Zöllner Makrofon 370 in late March 2024
The dynamic Passenger Information Screen onboard Comeng 625M showing upcoming stations on the Upfield line
The dynamic Passenger Information Screen onboard Comeng 625M showing the train bound for Flinders Street from Upfield station
Chopper Comeng carriage 694M stored at Newport Workshops
Two P classes haul two 3 car Comeng units to North Bendigo for scrapping.
Stored Comeng Trains in Tottenham Yard
Scrapped carriages piled up at InfraBuild Recycling in Laverton North
Car 368M stored at Newport Workshops awaiting scrapping