#2523
Tait
🇦🇺 Australia ·built by Unknown builder· from 1936· Melbourne suburban electric multiple unit train
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Tait Kensington: Matthew DAVALLE· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The Tait trains are wooden bodied electric multiple unit (EMU) trains that operated on the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They were introduced in 1910 by the Victorian Railways as steam locomotive hauled cars, and converted to electric traction from 1919 when the Melbourne electrification project was underway. The trains derived their name from Sir Thomas James Tait, the chairman of commissioners of the Victorian Railways from 1903 to 1910.
who runs it
base stats
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 90 years ago, in 1936.
- 18.6 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 74 years (1910–1984).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 1936
- in service from
- 1910
- retired
- 1984
- status
- retired
- number built
- 623
- kind
- multiple unit
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- builders
- Unknown builder
- designer
- Victorian Railways
- operators
- Metropolitan Transit Authority, Victorian Railways
- top speed
- 113 km/h
- power
- 105 kW
- gauge
- 1,600 mm Irish broad gauge
- electric system
- 1500 V DC overhead lines
- length
- 18.6 m
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7676458, Wikipedia: Tait (train) (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.