Siemens Nexas - Design

Design

The bodies of the Siemens Modular Metro trains evolved from the 1993 DT2 Series used in the Nuremberg U-Bahn whose design in turn came from production of the A Series built for the nearby Munich U-Bahn, but now also used in Nuremberg.

The version of Siemens metro train designed for Melbourne included several attributes similar to existing Melbourne suburban electric trains such as being single-deck and operating in M-T-M (motor-trailer-motor) sets of three carriages, where the motor cars each have an overhead pantograph, and two of these 3-car sets are generally coupled together to form a 6-carriage train when run in revenue service, though a single set may be run when demand does not merit a full train. Each 3-carriage set can carry 522 people and is 71.9 m in length.

There are several notable differences between the Siemens trains and other trains which operate in Melbourne. These include:

• 2+2 (two and two) seating. All other trains had 2+3 seating, however new X'Trapolis trains ordered as part of the 2008 Victorian Government Transport Plans will have the same 2+2 seating configuration, and existing X'Trapolis and Comeng trains will have their seats modified to a 2+2 configuration as part of the franchise agreement.
• Two doors per carriage per side. Being significantly wider they were theorised to be slightly more efficient in loading and unloading passengers, although this is disputed by some sources, who believe the fewer doors lead to longer platform dwell times compared to the three smaller doors in other Melbourne trains.
• Plug-type doors - hinged outward and slide along the outside of the vehicle when opening.
• Extreme smooth, vertical walls.
• Open articulation. Passengers can freely move from carriage to carriage, within a 3-carriage set, without opening doors—the first such train with this configuration in Melbourne.

The Siemens train are fitted with a Passenger Information Display system (PIDS) produced by the German firm Annax. The system is unique to the Melbourne rail network, as it uses the original M>train voice of English dialect, and does not announce express running or the end of services. The external destination indicators are large in size compared to other Melbourne trains. New announcements that are said by the Alstom voice are slowly beginning to be installed to Siemens trains for North Melbourne, Craigieburn and Roxburgh Park stations since the Craigieburn Electrification Project was completed in mid-2007.

In June 2008 Connex started a program to replace the seat coverings in a number of Siemens trains, using the same type of fabric as used in the X'Trapolis trains, so far fifteen carriages have been done - 711M, 712M, 715M, 716M, 759M, 760M, 821M, 822M, 841M, 842M, 2506T, 2508T, 2530T, 2561T and 2571T