Haven't been on Railpage for a while so here goes.

Not sure where to put this question.  Anyhow a couple of weeks ago on one of the 36 degree Melbourne days I managed to get an old Hitachi train from Southern Cross to Lilydale - the 5.10pm.  As well as being like an oven, it was packed.  I thought it was Metro's policy not to run these trains on hot days.  I emailed PTV to complain as there doesn't appear to be a separate email address for Metro, and got the standard copy and paste email back saying new trains are coming in 2014 etc.  Does anyone have an answer this?  Surprise, surprise, next morning there were 2 Hitachi trains waiting at Lilydale!

Also I'm sick to death of people getting on my bus and talking their way out of paying because they haven't topped up.  I see the same people day in, day out.  Why do the drivers let them on?  I'm sick of subsidising these fare evaders.

Metro don't run Hitachis for the fun of seeing commuters having an unpleasant journey, but their fleet is pretty pushed these days. As long as PTV try and squeeze more services onto the system, the Hitachis aren't going anywhere.

At the end of the day, what would be worse, a hot and stuffy Hitachi, or no train at all? I can tell you now, if you get rid of the Hitachis, there will be a lot more cancellations.

Well at least you knew your train wouldn't have been cancelled due to faulty air conditioning and left on a hot crowded platform somewhere ,so you complain about it being too hot no one made you board this service other than your self . if it was so bad why didnt you just wait for the next train being peak it wouldn't have been a long wait
LOL at 2 Hitachi's at Lilydale karma playing its part for complaining , did you get a photo at least?
Suppose you complain about all the non air conditioned trams aswell ?

Bill  

To the OP I think - not sure - that the no silvers on hot days thing was Connex's thing.

Not Metro's.

Give me a Hitachi on a hot day anytime over a Comeng. The air may be hot but at least it is fresh with the windows open. Beats the hot stuffy recycled fug in a Comeng.

Thought. The silvers shouldn't be running. How many new xtraps do we have now?

Of course, if the xtraps have lots of expired faults....

there putting the Hitachis' in service so they can annoy you................

Anyhow a couple of weeks ago on one of the 36 degree Melbourne days I managed to get an old Hitachi train from Southern Cross to Lilydale - the 5.10pm. As well as being like an oven, it was packed. I thought it was Metro's policy not to run these trains on hot days.

No, the RTBU raised problems with Connex relating to the drivers' cabs on particularly hot days.

This dispute was addressed six years ago (ignore Broken Arrow).

Well at least you knew your train wouldn't have been cancelled due to faulty air conditioning and left on a hot crowded platform somewhere ,so you complain about it being too hot no one made you board this service other than your self . if it was so bad why didnt you just wait for the next train being peak it wouldn't have been a long wait
LOL at 2 Hitachi's at Lilydale karma playing its part for complaining , did you get a photo at least?
Suppose you complain about all the non air conditioned trams aswell ?

Bill

Such vitriol. Do you really expect commuters to sit gleefully in carriages built in the 1970's and using 1930's technology?

What are the protocol on Hitachi these days? Under Connex they were only used as a last resort and even then only if it wasn't too hot. Driver aircon was installed a few years ago, and now I see them all the time.

There's nothing vitriolic about it, but it isn't as if the government is rolling in dough and just choosing not to spend money on rollingstock. New Xtraps are being built and rolled out at the moment, there are plans to introduce a new class of tram within the next 12 months, and their is another order of Vlocities about to start construction. All of this despite the fact the states budget is as tight as ever.

PTV could have quite easily withdrawn the Silvers from service a couple of years ago, but instead they decided to do the right thing by the public and squeeze more services onto the network. Like I and others have said, we would be in a much worse off position if they weren't around anymore.

Ha ha the funny thing is, I caught a Hitachi this morning in Melbourne.  It wasn't hot, it was about 20 degrees and pouring rain.  
I saw a middle aged woman getting on, muttering under her breath about "smeg" trains, and thought - "what's your problem, surely it's better than walking?"
I am guilty of giving her a dirty look, as if to say "pull your head in"
Then, the train, which was an express service (express Sunshine to Footscray) from Watergardens, which left around 0717hrs, was terminated at North Melbourne due to a defect at about 0820hrs.
The look of smug self righteousness on her face was priceless.  My only victory was I don't care if the train is late, delayed or otherwise, and she clearly does.  
I like those trains anyway.  

I'd rather a well patronised "old train" service than an overcrowded "modern train" service anyday! More trains spreads the load evenly, making for a more comfortable ride.

I don't understand some people's attitude's when a question like this is raised. Some (Not listing how many to avoid finger pointing) of the posts above seem to be attacking the person for their question. Just because they hold a different opinion to you doesn't mean they deserve to be attacked. I will admit here and now that I can't stand the Hitachi fleet. I would wait for the next train rather than catch one if I could. *Waits for major criticisim*.

Let's be realistic though, why in this day and age do we have to put up with non-airconditioned trains on such hot days? Sure some people will say that they operate ok with the opened windows etc. I understand that it wouldn't be too bad if you were near a window but what happens if you were stuck in the middle of several people it would be less than pleasant. I understand that without them (Hitachis) the system wouldn't be able to cope as much, that's fine but the issue is why don't we have more modern trains that can cope with the amount of services PTV wishes to provide? I understand that the government is not spending that much money at the present time, their even cutting a lot (e.g. Hospital funding) so new trains aren't probably high on their agenda considering that this government just appears to want to have the books in the black. The problem here ultimately is that there isn't enough foresight and things only get done once they're an issue.

SueB if you are not happy with the response that you have got from PTV I would suggest that you take it up with the ombudsmen.

What are the protocol on Hitachi these days? Under Connex they were only used as a last resort and even then only if it wasn't too hot. Driver aircon was installed a few years ago, and now I see them all the time.

From July 2007 until 2009, you mostly saw them during peak periods. That of itself does not mean "only used as a last resort". These days, you see them on weekends even if there isn't any special demand.

As Gman states, they have definitely been used during the particularly hot periods like Summer 2008-09. That "few years ago" for air-conditioning in the drivers' cabs is now becoming "several years ago". Even if the air is forty-something degrees, it's tolerable circulating air, and the air in a train with an air-conditioning failure is not circulating.

The things that have taken Hitachis out of service are necessary maintenance tasks like removing rust.

Haven't been on Railpage for a while so here goes.

Not sure where to put this question. Anyhow a couple of weeks ago on one of the 36 degree Melbourne days I managed to get an old Hitachi train from Southern Cross to Lilydale - the 5.10pm. As well as being like an oven, it was packed. I thought it was Metro's policy not to run these trains on hot days. I emailed PTV to complain as there doesn't appear to be a separate email address for Metro, and got the standard copy and paste email back saying new trains are coming in 2014 etc. Does anyone have an answer this? Surprise, surprise, next morning there were 2 Hitachi trains waiting at Lilydale!

Also I'm sick to death of people getting on my bus and talking their way out of paying because they haven't topped up. I see the same people day in, day out. Why do the drivers let them on? I'm sick of subsidising these fare evaders.

as a bus driver if i here about assaults from passengers when they are asked to top up the myki before entering the bus if you want your head punched in then be my guess there is nothing we can do about it.

I agree but why are the hitachi's in service?

1. Siemens train issues (fixed in 2011)
2. Too many services
3. No more new trains on order.
4. Commonwealth Games in 2006
5. They can operate system wide unlike the new trains.
6. Abbots road incident and other incidents take the more modern trains out of service.
7. Vandalism bait.

As well as being like an oven, it was packed. I thought it was Metro's policy not to run these trains on hot days. I emailed PTV to complain as there doesn't appear to be a separate email address for Metro, and got the standard copy and paste email back saying new trains are coming in 2014 etc. Does anyone have an answer this?

A little known fact of Metro's Fleet Operations:

The Hitachis are rostered to services and to stable wholly dependent of the originating postcode of pettifogging and frivolous PTV complaints.

In reaction to SueB's rather trivial problem of not being able to cope without airconditioning for a short period of her life, I am led to believe that several empty car moves were hastily arranged to provide SueB with something else completely baseless to complain about.