Southport developed a hopper vent window. There are no screws or screw holes, whereas our competitors in Australia and overseas assemble their windows with 11 or 12 screws. The company simply uses two snake-eye screws to hold a vandal proof panel in place. Importantly, the window can be assembled or disassembled within 15 minutes. Any part of the window can be replaced on the carriage with a maximum of 5 minutes down time.
Workmen can replace parts, without pulling the window out.
The window can be fixed at a station stop. We beat four international companies for the contract, purely because of its design and pricing. If vandalism didn't exist, we'd have invented a window which just clips together. No mechanical fixing. So, in hindsight, our windows haven't broken design barriers but they have addressed the problems of safety and maintenance.