crush[12] 891T-896T: 92 seated, 263 crush[13] 560T & 801T-889T: 30 LT 16 cwt 2 qtr (31.32 t)[9][10] 632T & 673T: 32 LT 6 cwt 2 qtr (32.84 t)[7][8] The Harris trains were the first steel-bodied electric multiple unit (EMU) trains to operate on the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Royal blue and yellow were common colours for the Victorian Railways passenger rolling stock in the post-war era.

Those sets were also fitted with only two doors per carriage side rather than three, permitting additional seating and reflecting the increasing average travel distance.

Later, drawbars were fitted in the middle of first series blocks and units, although the final ten motor cars had automatic couplers at both ends.

For the second series the internal partitions were removed, and capacities increased to 65 and 80 passengers respectively for a total gain of 50 seats per seven-car train.

[1] The first 30 7-carriage trains, known as the first series, were constructed in the United Kingdom by Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, and delivered between 1956 and 1959.

At the same time, some of the Units were reduced to BT-M only and allocated to the Sandringham Line, and these actions together allowed for the formation of additional M-T-T-M blocks so that eight-car trains could run on busier routes including Lilydale, Belgrave and Glen Waverley.

Later platform extensions permitted operation of eight-car trains on the Frankston, Pakenham, Alamein, Upfield, Broadmeadows, St Albans and Williamstown lines.

Another difference between the first- and second-series trains was the destination rolls; the former had included Carnegie, North Williamstown, Elsternwick, Ashburton, Blackburn, Macaulay, Thomastown and Rosanna, which were replaced in the latter with Mentone, Crib Point, Holmesglen, Belgrave and Upfield.

Two trains, a seven-car and special ten-car set (composed of two Units and a Block) ran to Warragul on 23 February 1963 for royal traffic,[18][19][20] and around the same time a ten- and eleven-car set (two Blocks with a Unit between them) ran to Geelong, respectively hauled by locomotives T332 and B65.

[23] Around the same time, the Victorian Railways was experimenting with replacing cast-iron brake blocks with a non-metallic compound (probably asbestos), so Set 11 was fitted with these, and tested between Seaford and Frankston, in 5 mph increments up to line speed, in both directions.

The weak-field system was reconnected in the late 1970s to early 1980s in order to keep up with amended timetables, but this brought back the wheel slip issues.

While the 500-series trains had rotary flettner ventilators fitted; these were mounted on the curve of the roof and spun off-centre, causing a grinding noise.

These units were also later fitted to the clerestory-roofed Tait stock, with their opening ceiling-windows being sealed to reduce maintenance costs.

[24] Similar stainless steel panels were placed around bridgeworks at East Richmond, the purpose of both to check for weathering and cleaning methods.

However, the cars were significantly heavier and when coupled to 700-series motors already featuring weaker acceleration further impacting timekeeping.

By the mid-1970s, individual Harris cars were being sent to Bendigo North Workshops for fitting of end doors and gangways.

Due to the presence of asbestos, most were disposed of in the 1990s, by being buried at Talbot Quarry in Clayton, a south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, some having been wrapped in plastic.

[26] A set of four carriages was refurbished in the late 80s and repainted into an experimental green and yellow livery for The Met.

The refurbished cars also had air conditioning, sealed windows, self-closing doors, and a new colour scheme.

The refurbished trains generally ran on the Port Melbourne, St Kilda and Sandringham lines.

[27] The restriction to these three lines was due to the additional weight of the refurbished carriages, which meant the sets were underpowered for all but Melbourne's flattest corridors.

In later years, they were used on the Stony Point line, behind A class diesel locomotives until 26 April 2008, when Sprinter trains were introduced on the route.