The Tait trains were a wooden bodied electric multiple unit (EMU) train that operated on the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They were introduced in 1910 by the Victorian Railways as steam locomotive hauled cars, and converted to electric traction from 1919 when the Melbourne electrification project was underway. The trains derived their name from Sir Thomas James Tait, the chairman of commissioners of the Victorian Railways from 1903 to 1910. The first cars were built during 1909 with the last entering service in 1952.
Tait 317M passing Kensington, 2022
Interior of a Tait car restored by ElecRail.
First set of Tait suburban passenger carriages hauled by steam locomotive Dde 750, c. 1910
Four-car Tait train at the Spring Vale Cemetery platform
The Melbourne rail network is a metropolitan suburban and freight rail system serving the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The metropolitan rail network is centred around the Melbourne central business district (CBD) and consists of 221 railway stations across 16 lines, which served a patronage of 99.5 million over the year 2021–2022. It is the core of the larger Victorian railway network, with regional links to both intrastate and interstate rail systems.
Flinders Street railway station in March 2021
Steam-hauled suburban train departing North Melbourne station for Sunshine in April 1913
The pre-1910 Flinders Street railway station building on Swanston Street
Connex train arriving at Camberwell railway station in June 2004
