I was on a Siemens from Dandenong back into FSS yesterday (wanted to ride the "new" bit, I'm from the country so kill me if it's not that new to everyone else) and shortly after we left Yarraman it looked like someone was on the roof with a hose spraying the LH side of the carriage, I was in the very last car but up the front on the left hand side. (it wasn't a lot of water)

Where exactly is the A/C unit mounted on the roofs of these trains? It's the only explanation I can think of because it kept spraying on/off between Yarraman and at least Caulfield. the only other explanation is that the trains weren't designed to be operated that high above ground and the fittings just couldn't take the height.

Why were all of the people complaining about skyrail passengers being able to see into their backyards? I wasn't actively looking, but it was hard to see into backyards, so what was all the fuss about?

What was the fault on the upfield line on Monday afternoon? I had to get a bus from NMS to Coburg being driven by the bus driver with the best comebacks ever combined with the worst sense of direction. this bus was supposed to be direct to Coburg and the stop all stations. Starting at North Melbourne Station, to Flemington road, Mt Alexander Road, Right into Ormond Rd (I would have stayed in this road to be honest), left into Stuart St, right into Dean Street (alongside moonee valley racecourse), left into Melville Road (gosh that was a tight turn, bus took up the WHOLE road along Melville road, Right into Bell street (West Coburg tram terminus) and down Bell St to Coburg Station.

When we got to Melville Road passengers started to complain, the bus driver stopped twice (probably getting sick of complaining passengers, I know I was) then he said the best comeback ever "trains don't stop everywhere, so why should I?"

Each car has two air conditioning units located towards the ends of each with the exception of the Motor car where one air conditioner unit is more towards the centre to accomodate the pantograph.

I’m not sure why there would be water coming from them, maybe a leak of some sort or could be normal in such hot weather.

The height of the train in relation to the sky rail would have nothing to do with it. You would need to be running trains 100kms into the sky to change to atmospheric pressure.

The beat up about people’s back yards was just that, a lot of BS and hot air. You don’t hear anyone complaining about the shiny new parks and stations.

Replacement bus drivers don’t always know the routes as well as they should. Metro has a contract with Ventura to have busses and drivers on stand by ready to be deployed at a moments notice. This could be on the other side of the city and the driver may not have driven that route before. The Age wrote an article about it a few weeks ago. They are developing apps and maps for drivers to keep the on track.

Hope this answers your questions

Condensation water form on all common types of air conditioning units during cooling operation, but personally I only see it dropping in the liquid form in Shanghai.  I am aware that some coaches recycle condensation water as drinking water for passengers, but for trams and trains my explanation would be Australia has dry climate and condensation water might evaporate before dropping to the ground.  The air conditioning units mightn't even have a water pipe included to direct condensation water to underneath the carriage.  However under extreme heat and when the humidity gets to a certain degree the natural evaporation rate mightn't be able to accommodate the rate condensation water forms, so it has to drop somewhere, whether it's the designated spot or not.

my explanation would be Australia has dry climate and condensation water might evaporate before dropping to the ground.  

Have you ever been to queensland?  dry climate.  I wish we had that here.

According to the Daily Weather Observations for Melbourne, that day was warm (minimum 19.0°C, maximum 26.8°C) but reasonably humid (relative humidity 80% at 9am, 72% at 3pm).

How long the train had been sitting in the sun would have an impact on whether it would evaporate before flowing down the sides.


But rather than condensation, could it have been a coolant leak of some kind? What other electrical equipment is on top of those vehicles?

Leaking coolant would vapourize instantly.

There is no water on these trains apart from the washer bottle for the wipers, and condensation from the HVAC.