AUSTRALIA: Victoria’s Department of Transport has formally awarded Alstom a €300m contract to supply 25 six-car X’trapolis 2·0 electric multiple-units to increase capacity on the Melbourne suburban network.
The contract signing on September 20 follows two years of work by Alstom and DoT to design rolling stock meeting Melbourne’s specific requirements. Mark Coxon, Alstom’s Managing Director for Australia & New Zealand, said the trains would be ‘a new icon for railway passengers across Melbourne and the state of Victoria’.
They will incorporate key elements of Melbourne’s existing X’trapolis units, combined with ‘the latest service-proven technologies’, built to the latest domestic and international standards and with an increased focus on accessibility and efficiency. They will have a capacity of more than 1 240 passengers.
An interior mock-up will be produced for stakeholder consultation next year. Manufacturing at Alstom’s Ballarat plant in Victoria is then expected to commence by the end of 2022. There will be at least 60% local content, supporting around 750 jobs in manufacturing and the supply chain, including trainee and apprenticeship positions.
Delivery will support the gradual retirement of Metro Trains Melbourne’s Comeng fleet, with the new trains to be used on the Craigieburn, Upfield and Frankston lines.
The order forms part of a A$986m project, funded in the Victorian Budget 2021-22 which also includes infrastructure improvements including expansion of the Craigieburn Train Maintenance Facility.
‘We’re delivering more accessible and energy efficient trains for passengers and supporting hundreds of jobs in Ballarat and around the state in the supply chain’, said Minister for Public Transport Ben Carroll. ‘These trains will modernise Melbourne’s train fleet and continue our proud record of delivering locally-built, world-class trains for Victorians.’
