The Metro Cammell EMU (also known as M-Train or Modernisation Train) () is the oldest variation of
electric multiple unit that operates on the
MTR rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
system in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
. A total of 768 cars were built by
Metro-Cammell
Metro-Cammell, formally the Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company (MCCW), was an English manufacturer of railway carriages, locomotives and railway wagons, based in Saltley, and subsequently Washwood Heath, in Birmingham. Purchased ...
in England (and its successor
GEC-Alsthom) between 1977 and 1994, and refurbished from 1998 to 2001 by
United Goninan.
Features
Urban line stock
![MTR M Train station map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/MTR_M_Train_station_map.jpg)
The M-Train, along with the later
C-Train
CTrain (previously branded C-Train) is a light rail rapid transit system in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Most of the network functions as a light metro, though in the free-fare zone that runs through the downtown core the Red and Blue lines opera ...
,
TML C-train,
R-train and ex-KCR stock, has five sets of double-leaf
sliding door
A sliding door is a type of door which opens horizontally by sliding, usually horizontal to a wall. Sliding doors can be mounted either on top of a track below or be suspended from a track above. Some types slide into a space in the parallel w ...
s on both sides of each car, to facilitate rapid boarding and exiting. This is opposed to the
K-Train and
AdTranz-CAF trains, which use
plug door
A plug door is a door designed to seal itself by taking advantage of pressure difference on its two sides and is typically used on aircraft with cabin pressurization. The higher pressure on one side forces the usually wedge-shaped door into its ...
s. They are currently operating primarily on the
Tsuen Wan line
The Tsuen Wan line is one of the eleven lines of the metro network in Hong Kong's MTR. It is indicated in red on the MTR map.
There are 16 stations on the line. The southern terminus is Central station on Hong Kong Island and the no ...
and
Island line Island Line or Island line may refer to:
* Island line (MTR), one of the lines of the MTR metro system in Hong Kong
* Island Line, Isle of Wight, a railway line on the Isle of Wight, England
** Island Line (brand)
Island Line is a brand of the ...
but are also operating on the
Kwun Tong line
The Kwun Tong line is a heavy-rail rapid transit line of the MTR network in Hong Kong, coloured green on the MTR map. Starting at Whampoa station, Whampoa in Hung Hom and ending at Tiu Keng Leng station, Tiu Keng Leng in Tseung Kwan O, S ...
and
Tseung Kwan O line
The Tseung Kwan O line is one of the eleven lines of the MTR system in Hong Kong, indicated by the colour purple. It is currently long, taking 15 minutes to travel throughout the entire line.
The line runs from North Point on the Hong Kong Is ...
alongside newer rolling stock. Each car is 3200 mm width over body panel, floor to rail is 1100 mm high and roof to rail is 3910 mm high.
A service train has an
acceleration
In mechanics, acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity of an object with respect to time. Accelerations are vector quantities (in that they have magnitude and direction). The orientation of an object's acceleration is given by t ...
of (), service brake is
regenerative blend with
air brake at the rate of () and emergency brake is air-brake at (). The maximum speed for the M-Train is 90 km/h, which is limited to 80 km/h during normal operation. Trains are also fitted for
driverless operation with a single train operator in each train opening and closing doors and monitoring the route. Primary
suspension
Suspension or suspended may refer to:
Science and engineering
* Suspension (topology), in mathematics
* Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics
* Suspension of a ring, in mathematics
* Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspende ...
is chevron springs, while the secondary suspension is air bags.
Traction system is mostly through
GTO chopper control. Each carriage has 45 seats and capable of holding 268
standing passenger
In urban public transport, provision is made for standing passengers, often called straphangers or standees, to rationalize operation and to provide extra capacity during rush hour.
Occurrence
On crowded rapid transit urban lines, while most tr ...
s, with space for
wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...
s, giving a total capacity of just over 2500 passengers, or approximately 3000 passengers under
crush load
Crush may refer to:
Film
* ''Crush'' (1972 film), a Hong Kong film
* ''Crush'' (1992 film), a New Zealand film by Alison Maclean
* ''The Crush'' (1993 film), a film by Alan Shapiro, starring Cary Elwes and Alicia Silverstone
* ''Crush'' (200 ...
. At the time of its introduction in 1979, the MTR M-Train EMU was believed to have the highest capacity of any metro car in the world.
Although another set of EMU trains from the same manufacturer operated on the
East Rail line
The East Rail line () is one of ten lines of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong. It used to be one of the three lines of the Kowloon–Canton Railway (KCR) network. It was known as the KCR British Section () from 1910 to 199 ...
, there are some significant differences between the two models. The Metro Cammell EMUs of the East Rail line, which are also known as the ''
Mid-Life Refurbishment Train'', were formerly operated by the
Kowloon–Canton Railway
The Kowloon–Canton Railway (KCR; ) was a railway network in Hong Kong.Legislative Council information paper CB(1)357/07-08(0 THB(T) CR 8/986/00, CB(1)1749/07-08(0/ref> It was owned and operated by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCR ...
until
being taken over by the MTR in 2007. However, the
KCRC retained ownership of the MLR Trains. However, all 29
Mid-Life Refurbishment trains were fully retired by May 2022 and all 93 M-Trains will be expected to be fully retired by 2027.
Disneyland Resort line stock
When the
Disneyland Resort line
The Disneyland Resort line is a heavy rail MTR line connecting Sunny Bay to the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, coloured pink on the network diagram. It is the seventh line of the former MTR network before the merger of MTR and KCR, and the w ...
opened in 2005, some second-hand M-Train units originally built in the early-1990s were refurbished and assigned to the line. The MTR designed a new driverless train and produced it by refitting existing M-Trains for the line which is designed with a
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
theme in mind. Statues of well-known Disney characters are included inside of the trains, such as
Mickey Mouse and
Donald Duck.
Units A/C274, A/C281, A/C284, A/C289, A/C291 and B/C490 of M-Train have been assigned to the Disneyland Resort line and completely refurbished into new trains.
There are major differences on the Disneyland Resort line trains compared to the main line trains.
* For B/C490, a cab has been added to the B car.
* The train cars have only 3 doors per side, for a total of 6 doors per car.
* The trains use electric doors instead of air-powered doors.
Each car is wide over body panel, floor to rail is high and roof to rail is high.
A service train has an
acceleration
In mechanics, acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity of an object with respect to time. Accelerations are vector quantities (in that they have magnitude and direction). The orientation of an object's acceleration is given by t ...
of (), service brake is
regenerative blend with
air brake at the rate of () and emergency brake is air-brake at . The maximum speed for the M-Stock is , and are normally operated automatically without drivers. However, the operator's cab area has been retained, visible through the glass window at the train ends. Primary
suspension
Suspension or suspended may refer to:
Science and engineering
* Suspension (topology), in mathematics
* Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics
* Suspension of a ring, in mathematics
* Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspende ...
is chevron springs, while the secondary suspension is air bags.
Traction system is through
GTO chopper control.
Variants
M-Train is divided into 6 types of stock. They are the:
* CM-Stock - Modified
Modified Initial System Stock (A/C101-170, B/C401-435)
* CT-Stock - Modified
Tsuen Wan line
The Tsuen Wan line is one of the eleven lines of the metro network in Hong Kong's MTR. It is indicated in red on the MTR map.
There are 16 stations on the line. The southern terminus is Central station on Hong Kong Island and the no ...
stock (A/C171-247, B/C436-458, 460-479)
* I-Stock -
Island line Island Line or Island line may refer to:
* Island line (MTR), one of the lines of the MTR metro system in Hong Kong
* Island Line, Isle of Wight, a railway line on the Isle of Wight, England
** Island Line (brand)
Island Line is a brand of the ...
stock (A/C248-256, B/C459)
* G-Stock - Trains for Eastern Harbour Tunnel extension (A/C257-269, B/C480-485)
* H-Stock - Trains for the signalling upgrade (A/C270-291, B/C486-496)
* Q-Stock - All D Cars (See Below) (D601-788)
Refurbishment
The whole fleet was refurbished within a period of six years between 1996-2001. These included the redesigning of the train’s front which originally featured a red stripe and a white head. The refurbished front has a silver and black coating with new electronic destination and train running number displays. The interior changes include the replacement of lighting and seats, along with installation of new dot-matrix display showing news and weather information, and flashing system maps indicating the station and line that the train is running on. The old black ball-shaped strap hangers were replaced with new red handles. The grab poles are now marked with red in the middle. Some other changes included altering the fibreglass facade on the exterior ends to modernise their appearance, as well as the installation of the advanced digital voice announcement (DVA) and
passenger information systems. United Goninan was subsequently awarded a contract to maintain the MTR rolling stock. Some of these new features were not integrated into the M-Trains until late 2001.
Another refurbishment was planned (contract C1066-13E) to update the trains' interior and exterior features to make them feel more modern; however the refurbishment will not take place as plans now call for the M-trains to be replaced by
new trains (train set A247/A232 had its handles and grab poles replaced with yellow double-branching poles, although some red poles were retained).
Tractions and configurations
The
traction system of M-Stock and T-Stock trains were changed to Chopper from Camshaft in 1992–1995, which gives them the present name CM-Stock and CT-Stock. This was done to keep operating and maintenance cost-effective and to improve performance. All I-Stock trains belong to
Island line Island Line or Island line may refer to:
* Island line (MTR), one of the lines of the MTR metro system in Hong Kong
* Island Line, Isle of Wight, a railway line on the Isle of Wight, England
** Island Line (brand)
Island Line is a brand of the ...
(excluding A126/A255 which transferred to TWL as an I-Stock (of which 3 cars were scrapped as they were damaged beyond repair in 2019, while the other 5 carriages were transferred to Siu Ho Wan Depot and some were subsequently scrapped in 2022.))
The configuration of a 8-car M-train in revenue service is (Up track direction) A-C+D+C-B+D+C-A. There was once a type of train with all motor cars A-C+C-B+C-B+C-A (also known as "solid train") but this formation does not exist anymore, although it is possible to configure an M-Train into a solid train. Units A/C274, A/C281, A/C284, A/C289, A/C291 and B/C490 have been assigned to the Disneyland Resort line and completely refurbished into new trains (see below). Additionally, 6-car and 4-car formations existed during the earlier years of the MTR: (Up track direction) A-C+C-B+C-A (6 cars) or A-C+C-A (4 cars).
Phases
Phase 1
The MTRC placed its first train order with Metro-Cammell in July 1976, initially ordering 140 railway carriages.
The M-Stock trains (now CM-Stock trains) were the first batch of trains ordered by
MTR. They were delivered from 1979 to 1982, and had their traction systems changed to GTO Chopper from Cam Shaft in 1992–1995. They now serve on the
Kwun Tong line
The Kwun Tong line is a heavy-rail rapid transit line of the MTR network in Hong Kong, coloured green on the MTR map. Starting at Whampoa station, Whampoa in Hung Hom and ending at Tiu Keng Leng station, Tiu Keng Leng in Tseung Kwan O, S ...
.
Phase 2A
The T-Stock trains (now CT-Stock trains) were the second batch of trains ordered by MTR. They were delivered from 1982 to 1985 and also had their traction systems changed to GTO Chopper in 1992–1995. They now serve on the
Tsuen Wan line
The Tsuen Wan line is one of the eleven lines of the metro network in Hong Kong's MTR. It is indicated in red on the MTR map.
There are 16 stations on the line. The southern terminus is Central station on Hong Kong Island and the no ...
.
A/C182's traction systems was changed from Cam Shaft to RCT Chopper in 1983, then in 1987 it was changed again to GTO Chopper.
Phase 2B
The I-Stock trains, the third batch of trains, were ordered by MTRC for the planned
Island line Island Line or Island line may refer to:
* Island line (MTR), one of the lines of the MTR metro system in Hong Kong
* Island Line, Isle of Wight, a railway line on the Isle of Wight, England
** Island Line (brand)
Island Line is a brand of the ...
in 1981.
They were delivered from 1985 to 1986 and serve on the Island line excluding set A255/A126.
B/C459 used Cam Shaft till 1987. However, all the other trains used RCT Chopper, while B/C459's parts were from A/C182.
Phase 2C
The G-Stock trains were built for the Eastern Harbour Crossing extension of the Kwun Tong line (became part of the
Tseung Kwan O line
The Tseung Kwan O line is one of the eleven lines of the MTR system in Hong Kong, indicated by the colour purple. It is currently long, taking 15 minutes to travel throughout the entire line.
The line runs from North Point on the Hong Kong Is ...
in 2002), they were delivered from 1988 to 1989 and still serve on the Kwun Tong line. However, they moved to Tsuen Wan line starting from December 2017. They were the last batch of MTR M-Trains to be made by
Metro-Cammell
Metro-Cammell, formally the Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company (MCCW), was an English manufacturer of railway carriages, locomotives and railway wagons, based in Saltley, and subsequently Washwood Heath, in Birmingham. Purchased ...
before being acquired by
GEC-Alsthom in 1989.
Phase 3
The MTRC signed a contract in March 1992 for 64 new rail cars (48 motorcars, 16 trailers) with an option for an additional 24 carriages. These were delivered by GEC Alsthom as components, with final assembly carried out at the Kowloon Bay Depot.
The H-Stock trains were delivered from 1994 to 1998 and some units were refurbished to serve on the
Disneyland Resort line
The Disneyland Resort line is a heavy rail MTR line connecting Sunny Bay to the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, coloured pink on the network diagram. It is the seventh line of the former MTR network before the merger of MTR and KCR, and the w ...
(the remaining units served on the Tseung Kwan O line from 2002 to 2010, and Kwun Tong line from April 2010 onwards. However, they moved to Tsuen Wan line starting from December 2017). 88 cars were assembled locally at
Kowloon Bay depot.
Q-Stock
The first batch of Q-stock D-car (
trailers
Trailer may refer to: a
Transportation
* Trailer (vehicle), an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle
** Bicycle trailer, a wheeled frame for hitching to a bicycle to tow cargo or passengers
** Full-trailer
** Semi-trailer
**Horse trail ...
) were ordered as part of Phase 2A trains from 1984 to 1985, cars D601-706 and D707-724; the second batch (Phase 2B, cars D725-752) were ordered from 1985 to 1986; the third batch (Phase 2C, cars D753-763) were ordered from 1988 to 1989, and the fourth and final batch (cars D764-788) were ordered from 1994 to 1998 as part of Phase 3.
Each car is wide over body panel, floor to rail is high and roof to rail is high.
Surplus / retired cars
The surplus cars are B/C493, B/C445, A/C112 and A/C126, D736, D737 and D784. Some useful parts on these trains have been cannibalised for other carriages, so they may no longer be used. Some of these cars were scrapped in August 2022.
The retired / written off cars are A/C131, A/C255 B/C451, B/C459 and D652. B/C459 was taken out of service in 2008 due to motor part issues from A/C254 and lack of Phase 2B parts, so a backup unit B/C404 took over B/C459 on A/C227 - A/C170 (now A/C227 with A/C214 on the Tsuen Wan line). Additionally, D652 and B/C451 were severely damaged in 2019 during
CBTC
Communications-based train control (CBTC) is a railway signaling system that uses telecommunications between the train and track equipment for traffic management and infrastructure control. CBTC allows a train's position to be known more accurat ...
testing between Admiralty Station and Central Station.
A255/A126 was taken out of service due to A255/C255 being damaged due to the October 6th Lai King crash. The train was towed to Tsuen Wan Depot depot and was emptied of passengers on the way, but A255/C255’s bogies were too faulty. Therefore, MTR had A255/C255 scrapped in Tsuen Wan Depot.
The original surplus cars used to be A/C115, A/C145, A/C273, B/C404 and D784.
Train configurations
Replacement
All 93 sets will be retired from service around 2022–2027. MTR had originally planned to replace 78 sets.
However, in July 2015, MTR announced that
CRRC Qingdao Sifang
CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese rolling stock manufacturer based in Qingdao, Shandong province. Founded in 1900 during the German occupation, Qingdao Sifang is one of the oldest rolling stock manufacturers in China.
History
Q ...
had won an
order to build 93 sets that is set to replace all M-Trains by 2027, on grounds that it was "better value for money".
In addition, the current Westinghouse signalling system will be phased out in favour of a
communications-based train control
Communications-based train control (CBTC) is a railway signaling system that uses telecommunications between the train and track equipment for traffic management and infrastructure control. CBTC allows a train's position to be known more accurat ...
(CBTC) system, similar to that of the
West Rail line
The West Rail line () was a rapid transit line that formed part of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system in Hong Kong until 27 June 2021. Coloured magenta on the MTR map, the line ran from Tuen Mun to Hung Hom, with a total length of , i ...
and
South Island line
The South Island line, identified by light green on the MTR route map, is a rapid transit line of Hong Kong's MTR metro system. This line connects the HK business district from Admiralty station to the Southern District of Hong Kong Island ...
. In the meantime, 36 of the M-Trains have been equipped with CBTC equipment, all of which is in the Tsuen Wan Line, supplied by
Thales
Thales of Miletus ( ; grc-gre, Θαλῆς; ) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. He was one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regarded ...
, for use on the Tsuen Wan line as an interim measure while their replacement trains are being delivered.
However, the Disneyland Resort Line trains will not be changed. This means A/C274, A/C281, A/C284, A/C289, A/C291 and B/C490 will continue their service on the Disneyland Resort Line as P/Q501-506 with GoA 4 (automated trains).
The first sets to be withdrawn are A255/A126 and A131/A112, which were involved in incidents in 2019. Full withdrawal began with the first full 8-car set, A167/A168 (A167-C167+D710+B431-C431+D786+C168-A168), retired from regular service at the night of 10 September 2022, and was brought to Siu Ho Wan Depot for cutting and transporting away to scrapyards in Tuen Mun. The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department requested that the MTR scrap 6 M-Trains before 2023.
Planned export to Singapore
In the early-1980s, Metro Cammell and GEC Traction proposed a version of the MTR M-Train EMU for Singapore's
Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) metro system (which eventually opened in 1987), alongside several other bidders from France, Canada, West Germany, Sweden and Japan.
Although Metro Cammell was shortlisted along with the Swedish
ASEA
''Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget'' (English translation: General Swedish Electrical Limited Company; Swedish abbreviation: ASEA) was a Swedish industrial company.
History
ASEA was founded in 1883 by Ludvig Fredholm in Västerås a ...
and the Japanese
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
(or simply Kawasaki) is a Japanese public multinational corporation manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, heavy equipment, aerospace and defense equipment, rolling stock and ships, headquartered in Chūō, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is ...
-led consortium, its eventual loss to the aforementioned Kawasaki consortium in winning what later became
Contract 151 for Singapore's first metro rolling stock type was reported to be the relative energy inefficiency of the GEC Traction camshaft traction system then used by all MTR M-Trains. Another factor was a measuring error involving the
London Underground 1983 Stock
The London Underground 1983 Stock was a class of electric multiple unit built by Metro-Cammell for use on London Underground's Jubilee line.
The 1983 Stock could be considered the last train to be designed by London Underground; it was the las ...
during the evaluation phase for Contract 151. The loss of said contract was a massive financial blow to Metro Cammell, who was forced to reduce their workforce by half in August 1984,
and was eventually acquired by GEC-Alsthom in 1989.
See also
*
List of driverless trains
This is a list of driver-less train systems, which are capable of GoA3 and GoA4 (GoA3+) according to the Grade of Automation classifications specified by the standard IEC 62290‐1. These are explained diagrammatically by the UITP. This list foc ...
References
External links
1970s Metro-Cammell Products- Metcam.co.uk (dedicative site)
{{MTR
MTR rolling stock
Metropolitan Cammell multiple units
Train-related introductions by year
Electric multiple units of Hong Kong
Electric multiple units of Great Britain
1500 V DC multiple units