Coding

H type carriages are numbered in the 101 - 200 series. Sets were issued to traffic with three types of carriage:

• BCH economy class with conductors van: 121–131; 132-133 long; 134 and 135 seat 10 more people but have a smaller van area
• BH economy class: 141–149, 150-151 were converted to BTH 174–175; 152, 153 long
• BTH economy class with terminal connections: 161–171; 172-173 long; 174-175 formerly BH 150, 151
• MTH economy class with onboard power alternators: 101-104 short

Additional cars were later constructed to increase capacity. These cars do not feature toilets:

• BIH economy class intermediate: 181-194

Carriage sets

The H type carriages originally entered service as 3 car sets, later having additional cars added to bring them up to four, five or six cars. Each set was identified by its length and carriage type.

The initial codes were:

• SH: 3 short carriages, initially sets SH21-31
• LH: 3 long carriages (using carriages converted from the 75 feet (23 m) long Harris trailers), initially sets 32 and 33.

Extended set codes were:

• FSH: the F means that the sets contains 4 carriages (until November 2012)
• VSH: the V means that the set contains 5 carriages (until November 2012)
• VLH: the L meaning long (until November 2012)
• SSH: 6 short carriages (in use November 2012); some of these sets had intermediate BCH carriages.
• SLH: 3 short carriages coupled to 3 long carriages (in use circa July 2021)

The MTH carriages had a separate roster, spending most of their service life on the Stony Point line.

From 1983

From 1992

From 1999

In 1999, the fleet was reorganised. Previously, there had been four SH, nine FSH, one LH and one FLH set. In September of that year, set SH35 was split up, and set FSH28 lost its BIH carriage. The now-loose four carriages were reallocated to sets 22, 26, 29 and 32, so the new split became four SH, five FSH, three VSH and two FLH sets. Other than the remaining FSH sets (all 247 seats), the new set makeup had nearly every set with its own consist and differing capacity. Each of the different consists also had slightly different weights, lengths, capacities and door layouts, affecting the timetabling. ^{[citation needed]}

• The SH sets, 28, 30, 31 and 34, respectively had 180, 184, 184 and 194 seats.
• The FSH sets, 21, 23, 24, 25 and 27, all had 247 seats.
• The FLH sets, 32 and 33, had 316 seats
• The VSH sets, 22, 26 and 29 had 310, 314 and 311 seats respectively.
• The four MTH cars, 101-104, 63 seats each and fitted with Metcard equipment, on the Stony Point line

As a result, rosters were often written with specific sets in mind; the VSH and FLH sets could be grouped into a fleet of five sets for the longer runs, and the FSH sets for the shorter runs. The SH sets were either run individually on the shortest runs, or in pairs on the longest.

When the five-carriage sets were formed, the end BTH and BCH cars were recabled with higher-capacity wiring, to avoid any risk of overheating. However, the P Class locomotives were only able to supply power for four carriages' worth of air-conditioning and lighting and did not have sufficient power for acceleration of a five-carriage set, so those trains had to be hauled by N class engines, or A class engines with a PH power van attached. Additionally, because of the drawbar and inter-carriage doorway arrangements, BCH135 and BTH175 were reversed for coupling to Set #29.

Later in this period, patronage spikes would require coupling an FSH with SH set, for a seven-car consist. These services became colloquially known as the "Poor Man's XPT", with a P class locomotive on each end of the consist, controlled by a single crew. No trials were performed with push/pull 2xFSH sets, because it was clear from P-FSH-SH-P sets that any such consist would have been too heavy for passenger train schedules, requiring a minimum power to weight ratio. (However, in later years, two P class locomotives would be used with eight total H type carriages in event traffic.^[35])

In 2004, carriage BIH187 was pulled from set FSH27, and stored at Newport Workshops. It was returned to the set about three months later.^{[citation needed]}

From 2005

In 2005, Marshall station was opened as an extension to the Geelong line. It was serviced by H sets previously running only to South Geelong, along with trains running to Warrnambool.

2006 saw another reorganisation of the H cars, this time on account of VLocity deliveries with Regional Fast Rail project. The VLocities were supposed to replace the H sets, but patronage booming meant they had to be retained.^[36] As part of the reorganisation, the H type carriages were refurbished and repainted into the new V/Line livery from September 2007.^[37][38]

As a result, set SH34 was split up, and sets 21, 27 and 32 lost their BIH coaches. Like when SH35 had been broken up, carriages BCH134 and BTH174 were reversed, for coupling to Set #32. The six freed cars were reallocated to sets 23, 28, 32 and 33, with the new outline thus-

• The SH sets, 21, 27, 30 & 31 had 180, 180, 184 and 184 seats respectively.
• The FSH sets, 24, 25 & 28 each had 247 seats.
• The VSH sets, 22, 23, 26 & 29 had 310, 314, 314 and 311 seats respectively.
• The VLH sets, 32 & 33, had 376 and 383 seats respectively.
• The four MTH cars, 101-104, 63 seats each and fitted with Metcard equipment, on the Stony Point line

With the deliveries of the VLocity fleet, the H sets were largely replaced by railcars on the longer runs, and so they began running more frequently on Melton and Bacchus Marsh, Sunbury and Kyneton, and Seymour services.

The MTH cars remained in use until 26 April 2008, after which Sprinter trains were introduced on the Stony Point line in lieu. The cars were placed into storage at Newport Workshops until 2011, when MTH 102 was converted to an inspection car for Metro Trains Melbourne. It now operates between two T class locomotives as IEV102 for inspection trains. The other three MTH carriages are stored, along with unused BH141.

From 2012

In conjunction with a new timetable of 18 November 2012, the H set fleet was reorganised to give three six-car sets as well as twelve semi-permanently-coupled three-car sets, giving an effective total of nine six-car sets in service. These trains usually provided peak-hour services to Bacchus Marsh, Wyndham Vale and Seymour, hauled by N and P class locomotives. Stock shortages of other classes mean there were almost daily runs of H carriage sets to Marshall and Traralgon.

All carriages have now been recabled to allow a single head-end-power unit to operate the entire train from one end, rather than requiring a separate power source for carriages beyond the fourth or fifth.

The current capacities are:

• SH21+SH27 and SH23+SH24, 364 seats; SH25+SH30, 368 seats
• SH29+SH35, 378 seats; SSH sets 22, 26 and 28, 377 seats each
• SH31+LH33, 433 seats; LH32+SH34, 443 seats

Loose carriage BH141 (63 seats) was stored at Newport Workshops, along with unused MTH 101, 103 and 104.

2015 roster

From July 2015, there were no regularly scheduled H sets on the Northern or Eastern regions, or anywhere at all on weekends, though occasional carriage shortages saw these sets filling in for other services. Quite often, H sets filled in on Geelong & Shepparton runs, resulting in first class and buffet facilities being unavailable. H sets were used on Seymour, Wyndham Vale and Bacchus Marsh runs from this time. All these rosters were hauled by N or P class locomotives, occasionally aided by A66.

From January 2017, one H set resumed operations along the Geelong line, having been moved from the Seymour Line. This set ran the 7:36 am Geelong to Southern Cross, and the 6:18 pm Southern Cross to Geelong.^[39]

In late August 2017, some of the H sets were altered to account for the withdrawal of the P class locomotives. The two SH-LH sets alternated between Geelong and Bacchus Marsh; the SSH set (with A66 and a PH power van) and one SH-SH pair were captive to Bacchus Marsh runs; and the three remaining SH-SH pairs cycled around three rosters, either Bacchus Marsh to Southern Cross, Southern Cross to Geelong and Geelong to Southern Cross over the course of a day.^[40][41][42] The ex-Bacchus Marsh roster included a trip to Seymour in the afternoon.^[43]

In January 2021, H sets were re-rostered exclusively on the Bacchus Marsh^[44] and Shepparton^[45] lines, alongside occasional unscheduled runs to Geelong and elsewhere. However, from October 2022, due to the replacement of loco-hauled services on the Shepparton line, it was necessary to reinstate a daily trip to Geelong, while Shepparton services are now operated by VLocities. Thus, from 23 October, the 7:23am Geelong to Southern Cross and 4:18pm Southern Cross to Geelong have been operated by H sets.^[46]

Post-Covid

In the era after Covid significant quantities of VLocity carriages were delivered; this in conjunction with the general replacement of locomotive-hauled trains across the board led to some minor set reconfigurations. Generally speaking, the sets previously formed were retained, with reclassifications around the time the sets entered the workshops for refurbishing into the PTV shard livery.

The sets formed were 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32 and 33, each six carriages. Of these, sets 22, 26 and 28 had a single BTH and BCH car each with the middle four cars assorted BIH and BH types; the other sets had two BTH, two BCH and one or two of the BH and BIH types. Long-van cars BCH134 and BCH135 were used in the middle of sets SSH27 and SSH31, and the 75ft long cars formed the east end of sets SLH32 and SLH33.

IEV102 remained in use by Metro Trains as an inspection vehicle. MTH101, 103, 104 and BH141 remained stored at Newport Workshops.

On 26 July 2023 a train hauled by N Class locomotives N465 and N460 transferred H sets SSH28 and SSH27 to Shepparton for storage;^[47] these had returned to Newport by November for disposal. Also in late October and early November, sets SSH31 and SSH23 were transferred (separately) to Echuca for storage.

As of November 2023, the master train plan only required one SLH set and no SSH sets. This set ran on weekdays from Maddingley sidings at 7:17am, picked up at Bacchus Marsh at 7:26am and arrived in Melbourne at 8:20am, then stabled. In the afternoon, it left Southern Cross at 5:21pm, ran to Melton, arriving 6:02pm, then was overtaken by a Wendouree service and continued as a separate service at 6:12pm for Bacchus Marsh at 6:28pm, finally running empty at 6:31pm to Maddingley at 6:37pm. Neither the locomotives or carriages from this roster were used on weekends.^[48]

As of March 2024, the last ever revenue H set services were on 2 February 2024, using SLH32 (with SH25) and SLH32 (with SH31), hauled by N456 "City of Colac",^[49] leaving from Southern Cross Station at 19:18, and then running to Waurn Ponds Station.

Disposal and Preservation

The six LH Cars from SLH32/33 have been set aside for preservation.

On 6 November 2024, Steamranger in South Australia announced on their Facebook page that they had acquired six H type carriages from V/Line.^[50] Enthusiast videos indicate these were sets SH25 (BCH125-BIH185-BTH165; set marked as SSH25) and SH21 (BCH121-BIH181-BTH161), along with power van PH454.

By 4 March 2025, carriages BTH174-BIH193-BCH134 were transferred to 707 Operations.^[51] This leaves a total of fifteen H cars in preservation. Notably, all three preserved short sets have a BIH as the central carriages, rather than a BH, meaning that none can be restored to their original configuration (unless BTH174 reverts to BH150, but BCH130 and BTH170 were not preserved).

By 18 March 2025, all remaining H type carriages (fourteen BCH, eleven BH, twelve BIH and fourteen BTH) were removed from the V/Line rolling stock register (along with 26 other carriages and seven vans).^[52]

Set history

Note: Colours are representative only, and do not directly correlate to liveries worn in the era. In particular, V/Line with silver stripes vs white and green stripes, and V/Line Passenger MkI and MkII liveries, are not necessarily marked separately.