Melbourne confirms X’trapolis EMU follow-on order
AUSTRALIA: The Victoria state government has exercised its option to order a further 25 X’trapolis 2.0 electric multiple-units from Alstom for use on the Melbourne suburban network.
The €270m contract announced by Alstom on August 4 follows an initial order for 25 placed in 2021, bringing the total fleet on order to 50 trains. The first of the initial batch entered entered passenger service in May, and further deliveries are continuing. The state government allocated A$674m in its 2026-27 budget for the purchase of additional rolling stock.
The six-car X’trapolis 2.0 EMUs are derived from Alstom’s Adessia commuter rail family, and have been developed in partnership with the Victorian Department of Transport & Planning to replace life-expired EMUs dating from the early 1980s.
Each walk-through EMU can carry up to 1 225 passengers, and also provides 20 dedicated wheelchair spaces, as well as pram, bike and mixed-use areas. The trains have wide doorways and semi-automated ramps for accessible boarding, tactile signage, assistive hearing technologies, and an improved passenger-driver interface.
The trains are being assembled at the company’s plants at Dandenong and Ballarat, meeting a requirement for at least 60% local content. The order for the additional trainsets is expected to secure hundreds of skilled manufacturing jobs in Victoria and across the broader supply chain.
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