{"id":404579,"date":"2026-04-13T10:22:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T00:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=404579"},"modified":"2026-04-13T10:22:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T00:22:31","slug":"metro-tunnel-trains-being-investigated-over-possible-defect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=404579","title":{"rendered":"Metro Tunnel trains being investigated over possible defect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Metro Trains is investigating a potential defect in its newest train fleet \u2013 which operates exclusively through the city\u2019s $15 billion Metro Tunnel \u2013 after an incident in February that left hundreds of commuters stranded in carriages for up to two hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metro believes issues with the pantographs (the arm mounted on top of the train which contacts with overhead wires to draw power) on its new fleet of High-Capacity Metro Trains (HCMT) could cause overhead wire entanglements.<\/p>\n\n\n

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An HCMT at Arden Station, part of the Metro Tunnel. JUSTIN MCMANUS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On February 3, an HCMT pulled down an overhead wire near Armadale, leaving around 600 passengers stuck onboard two trains for almost two hours without air-conditioning on a 30-degree day. Passengers eventually evacuated the train before walking along the tracks to Malvern station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metro has identified that the Armadale incident was caused by a pantograph fault, and an alert sent to drivers and seen by The Age<\/em> suggests it may be an ongoing risk.<\/p>\n\n\n

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An HCMT near Southern Cross. PAUL ROVERE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cFollowing recent HCMT pantograph entanglement incidents in the past few weeks, [Metro Trains Melbourne] are working with all relevant stakeholders to help identify abnormal pantograph behaviour,\u201d the February 11 notice stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The notice said Metro was looking for pantographs bobbing up and down and excessively arching, which was \u201cconsidered a potential contributing factor to recent entanglement events\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Metro Trains driver, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their employment, said overhead entanglements were unusual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The driver said it was not possible to monitor the pantographs in the HCMTs, as Metro had requested, because unlike older train models they do not have driver cabin-side mirrors. Instead, they have rear-facing CCTV cameras focused on the train doors and do not capture the top of the train.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One Metro Trains driver, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their employment, said overhead entanglements were unusual.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":237251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,1168,47],"tags":[993,8],"class_list":["post-404579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-metro-tunnel","category-rail-news","tag-melbourne","tag-victoria"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t