History
Melbourne Transport Enterprises (later Connex Melbourne) was awarded a franchise to operate the then government-owned Hillside Trains rail services in Melbourne's eastern and north-east suburbs in August 1999. The franchise for the southern parts of Melbourne's suburban train network was awarded to National Express Group, under the now-defunct Bayside Trains name (later renamed M>Train).
On 22 December 2002, National Express withdrew from its operations in Victoria, and the State Government took control temporarily. Early in 2003 the Government began negotiations with Connex to assume responsibility for all Melbourne's metro train network. A new partnership agreement was reached in February 2004 that awarded Connex the exclusive right to operate Melbourne's entire metro train network from 18 April 2004.
Connex's contract was extended on 21 August 2007 and expired on 29 November 2009, with the State Government of Victoria having chosen to not exercise its option for an 18-month extension.
Following Veolia's rebranding of its transport operations from Connex to Veolia Transport on all other transport systems worldwide in late 2005 and early 2006, Connex Melbourne was the only Veolia company to retain the Connex name. It was not until May 2008 that Connex Melbourne began to publicly acknowledge its connection with the parent company, using the "Connex: A Veolia Transport Company" phrase in publicity material and using the Veolia Transport and Connex brands together. Branding on staff uniforms, train livery and station signage was not altered.
Read more about this topic: Connex Melbourne
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