4D (train) - Service

Service

The 4D was shipped to Melbourne from Goninan's workshops in Newcastle, New South Wales, in December 1991, where it then entered a period of testing.

The unit broke from Melbourne tradition by being configured as Driving Trailer-Motor-Motor-Driving Trailer (D-TM-TM-D); all other sets in service at the time were (and are still) configured as Driving Motor-Trailer-Driving Motor (M-T-M). In a further break from tradition, the 4D did not use the 'D' code for a driving trailer, instead it was coded simply as T-M-M-T. The car numbers were also placed far outside the usual range; the 4D was numbered as 6000T-5000M-5002M-6002T for its whole service life.

Most of the time the 4D was on the rails it was parked in the stabling facilities at Bayswater railway station, Melbourne on the Belgrave line.

It was first introduced into revenue service on 10 March 1992, after testing and a subsequent media launch. Eight trips were scheduled for its first day in service, the first being the 08:36am service from Flinders Street to Box Hill, followed by the 09:08am service back to Flinders Street, on which the train suffered the first of its many failures. This required the train to be removed from service at Camberwell and the cancellation of the remaining trips.

Initially the 4D was run coupled to a 3-car Comeng set until 1996 when, after a troubled conversion to driver-only operation, it was permitted to operate on its own. Often as not, though, it was towed or pushed by a 3- or 6-car Comeng set following a failure.

When the suburban system was split into two in 1998 in preparation for privatisation, it was allocated to Hillside Trains (which became Connex).

Throughout its 10 years in Melbourne, the 4D continued to be plagued by reliability issues that saw it constantly in and out of service. After its disappointing entry to service, the train saw little use and was in storage by 1999. It was revived in June 2000, but lasted only a year.

A final attempt was made in February 2002 to return the set to service, but after three days it again failed and was placed back in storage, never to run revenue service again.