At around 2am on Wednesday 11th of November 2015, an unknown person/s entered the drivers cab of an X'trapolis EMU stabled at the quiet suburban terminus of Hurstbridge. They managed to drive the train over the derail block, derailing three of the six cars and causing an estimated AU$3 million in damage to track, overhead, fencing and rollingstock. The culprits were in possession of keys, and while Metro and the media have exclusively blamed vandals for the incident, there are certainly other possibilities. Train services were suspended to Hurstbridge for five days, with cranes being called in to assist with the rerailing.
[UPDATE, MARCH 2016:] The above caption is what I wrote at the original time of upload, which I will leave as is for extra context. On Saturday 13th of February 2016, a man called Nick Archer was arrested and charged with causing this derailment, as well as numerous counts of arson, including some at heritage railway sites which destroyed irreplaceable vintage rolling stock. Nick was a Metro employee, and a volunteer fire-fighter. He was also a volunteer at the aforementioned railway heritage group. I had met him on several occasions, including briefly a week before he was arrested.
