Hitachi (Australian train)

what is it?

The Hitachi (also known as Silver trains, Martin & King or Stainless Steel) is a retired electric multiple unit train that operated on the Melbourne suburban railway network between 1972 and 2014. Electrical equipment was supplied by Commonwealth Engineering, to designs by Hitachi of Japan, leading to their official name today, although no Hitachi-supplied components were used in their construction. They were the last suburban trains in Melbourne without air conditioning.

who runs it

Victorian RailwaysMTMetropolitan Transit AuthorityPTPublic Transport CorporationMTM>TrainCMConnex MelbourneMetro Trains Melbourne

base stats

• speed 116 km/htop speed
• power 1.8 MWpower output
• weight 41 tin working order
• seats 536passengers
• built 118made in total

Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.

fun facts

• 🎂First built 54 years ago, in 1972.
• 🚗1.8 MW is about 21 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
• 🐘Weighs about as much as 7 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 📏23.4 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🧍Seats 536: 11 full city buses (~50 seats each).
• ⌛Served for 42 years (1972–2014).

multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.

spec sheet

built

1972

in service from

1972

retired

2014

status

retired

number built

118

kind

Electric Multiple Unit (EMU)

traction

electric

origin

🇦🇺 Australia

builders

Commonwealth Engineering, Martin & King

operators

Victorian Railways, Metropolitan Transit Authority, Public Transport Corporation, M>Train, Connex Melbourne, Metro Trains Melbourne

top speed

116 km/h

power

1.8 MW

gauge

1,600 mm Irish broad gauge

electric system

(nominal) from overhead catenary

formation

6 cars per unit(M-T-M-M-T-M)

length

23.4 m

weight

41 t

capacity

536 passengers

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.