The Adelaide Metro 4000 class, also referred to as A-City trains, are

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

trains built by

Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, with headquarters in Toronto and Berlin. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. ...

(later

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

) in

Dandenong, Victoria Dandenong ( ) is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated m ...

for the electrified Adelaide rail network. They are the only class of operational electric trains in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, running services on the Gawler, Seaford and Flinders lines.

History

In the 2008/09 State Budget, it was announced that five out of six of Adelaide's railway lines were to be

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

commencing with the Noarlunga and Gawler lines. This was to have resulted in 58 of the 3000/3100 class railcars being converted to electric operation with the remaining 12 to be retained as diesels for operation on the

Belair line The Belair line is a suburban rail commuter route in greater Adelaide, South Australia, that runs from the Adelaide railway station to Belair in the Adelaide Hills via the Adelaide-Wolseley line using diesel 3000/3100 class railcars. This pa ...

. The electrification was scaled back and

was awarded a contract to build 22 three-carriage trains for the Adelaide rail network in 2011 instead. The first of these trains were delivered in July 2013, and entered service on 23 February 2014 on the Seaford and Tonsley (now Flinders) lines. The last entered service in October 2015. Their design shared similarities to the

V/Line VLocity The V/Line VLocity, sometimes called the VLocity 160, is a diesel multiple unit train built by Bombardier Transportation and, later, by Alstom in Dandenong rolling stock factory, Dandenong for V/Line, the regional rail operator in the Austral ...

and Transperth B-series trains, also built by Bombardier. When they were ordered, it was proposed that the

Gawler line The Gawler line, also known as the Gawler Central line, is a suburban commuter railway line in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. The Gawler Line is the most frequent and heavily patronised line in Railways in Adelaide, the Adelaide rail ne ...

would be electrified, which would allow the trains to access

Adelaide Metro Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of the Adelaide area, around the capital city of South Australia. It is an intermodal passenger transport, intermodal system offering an integrated network of Buses in Adelaide, bus, Glenelg tram, ...

's Dry Creek depot. However, before they were delivered, that project was temporarily cancelled. Whilst light maintenance was performed at their primary stabling point at Seaford Meadows, heavy maintenance needed to occur at Dry Creek. When required, each train was hauled there from Adelaide station by a pair of

3000 class railcar The 3000 class and 3100 class are a class of diesel railcars that operate on the Railways in Adelaide, Adelaide rail network. Built by Commonwealth Engineering, Comeng and Clyde Engineering between 1987 and 1996, they entered service under the ...

s. This movement was ceased once the Gawler line was electrified in 2022. In June 2019, a further 12 train sets were ordered for the Gawler line electrification, the first of which was delivered in mid-late 2021 and entered service on 4 March 2022. The latter were built by Alstom.

Note

References

External links

* {{South Australian Railways locos, state=collapsed Bombardier Transportation multiple units Alstom multiple units Electric multiple units of South Australia Train-related introductions in 2014 Transport in Adelaide 25 kV AC multiple units