The return of Hitachi 288M from South Morang.

The Semi retirement of the Hitachi's never seemed to have lasted as we speak.

2006 around the time of the Commonwealth Games, all Hitachi sets were to be withdrawn, in 2008 with only 7 sets that were remaining, a few had suffered serious cases of corosion and were declared unsafe for passenger service whilst still in the Gold and Yellow livery.

The Hitachi's were sent to ALSTOM at Ballarat where they were refurbished into the Connex livery and a refurbished interior to match the rest of the Alstom Fleet.

Sometime in 2011 the Hitachi's were pulled aside due to faulty drivers Isolation safety equipment, I think something to do with the pilot valve or vigilance systems due to trains old age.

Now in 2013 with only four sets remaining, two are now not in use and are just stabled at various locations around the network, all of the remaining four were to be withdrawn by mid 2013 due to failing equipment, but two of the healthy and maintained Hitachi's are running due to the shortage of trains and are only used on demand of failing services.

For the interest of time, the other two stabled Hitachis for now are being stored until further notice.