M-Train (stylised as M>Train) was a train operator in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, and operated some of the city's suburban rail operations. Formed in October 1997 as Bayside Trains, a business unit of the

Public Transport Corporation The Public Transport Corporation (PTC) was a Victoria State Government owned statutory authority formed under the Transport Act 1983 which operated passenger and freight trains, trams and bus services. The PTC was also responsible for directly ...

, it was privatised in August 1999 becoming a subsidiary of

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

. In December 2002 National Express handed the franchise in, with the

State Government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...

taking over until negotiations were concluded for

Connex Melbourne Connex Melbourne was a train operator in Melbourne, Australia. Formed in October 1997 as Hillside Trains, a business unit of the Public Transport Corporation, it was privatised in August 1999 becoming a subsidiary of Connex. In April 2004, it ...

to take over in April 2004.

History

On 1 October 1997 in preparation for privatisation, the

's suburban rail operations were split into two business units, Bayside Trains and Hillside Trains. The former took over operation of the Frankston, Cranbourne, Pakenham,

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places * Sandringham, New South Wales, Australia * Sandringham, Queensland, Australia * Sandringham, Victoria, Australia **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station **Electoral district of Sandringham * Sand ...

, Williamstown,

Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census. Werribee i ...

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...

(now Sunbury),

Broadmeadows Broadmeadows is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hume local government area. Broadmeadows recorded a population of 12,524 at the 2021 census. Broadmeadow ...

(now Craigieburn) and Upfield line services. Bayside Trains initially operated service on the Orbost line as far as

Warragul Warragul is a town in Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. As of the , the town had a population of 19,8 ...

under contract to

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cross ...

until electric services ceased beyond Pakenham."Melbourne EMU Fleet" ''

Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin ''Australian Railway History'' is a monthly magazine covering railway history in Australia, published by the New South Wales Division of the Australian Railway Historical Society on behalf of its state and territory Divisions.Stony Point line was transferred from V/Line.

successfully bid to take over the Bayside Trains services from 29 August 1999 beating competition from Connex,

GB Railways GB Railways was the parent company of a number of train operating companies, running the Anglia Railways franchise from January 1997 and launching Hull Trains and GB Railfreight. GB Railways was also involved in the management of the Estonian rai ...

and a

Singapore MRT The Mass Rapid Transit system, locally known by the initialism MRT, is a rapid transit system in Singapore and the island country's principal mode of railway transportation. The system commenced operations in November 1987 after two decades of ...

led consortium. National Express were also awarded the Swanston Trams franchise and

concession. In October 2000 National Express rebranded Bayside Trains as M-Train. In December 2002 National Express handed in its Victorian rail and tram franchises having been unable to renegotiate financial terms with the

who took over operations.

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

were appointed to operate the business on behalf of the State Government. In May 2003 the State Government announced it would establish a single company to operate both networks, and was negotiating with

(who operated the other half of the network) to operate this entity. In February 2004 an agreement was reached, and the networks were reunited on 18 April 2004.

Operations

M-Train operated the suburban rail services in the western, north-western, south-eastern, and southern suburbs running through

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

and

South Yarra South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Stonnington local government areas. South Yarra recorded a popul ...

stations. These were the

, Williamstown,

(now Sunbury),

(now Craigieburn), Upfield, Pakenham, Cranbourne, Frankston,

and Stony Point lines, in addition to maintaining the three underground

City Loop The City Loop (originally called the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop or MURL) is a mostly-underground and partly surface-level subway and rail system in the central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Loop includes ...

stations. When the Public Transport Corporation fleet was split, Bayside Trains were allocated 58 three-car

Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...

and 97 three-car Comeng sets. A class locomotives and MTH carriages were hired from

for services on the unelectrified Stony Point line. To replace the Hitachis, 62 three-car Siemens Nexas were ordered. Until November 2003 M-Train also issued its own annual railway tickets, running in parallel and sold at a discount to those

Metcard Metcard was the brand name of an integrated ticketing system used to access public transport in Melbourne, Australia. It was a universal ticket which allowed users to ride on the city's Metlink and Metropolitan Transit Authority network, consis ...

system, but only permitting travel on their half of the network.

References

External links

* {{NEXG Defunct railway companies of Australia National Express companies Rail transport in Victoria (Australia) Railway companies established in 1997 Railway companies disestablished in 2004 1997 establishments in Australia 2004 disestablishments in Australia