MTR MLR Train

"MLR Train" (short for Mid-Life Refurbishment Train) is a colloquial name used to describe the AC Metro-Cammell EMU, a set of high-capacity suburban electric multiple units operated by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation and its successor the MTR Corporation on the East Rail Line of the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway from May 1982 to May 2022.
==History==
The MLR Train was the first electric multiple unit operated on the East Rail Line, then operated by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) as part of the Kowloon-Canton Railway. Ordered in four phases by the KCRC, the first sets entered service on the East Rail Line on 6 May 1982.
Initially produced in three-car sets, the first sixty-one sets, E1 to E61, were delivered to the KCR from 1982 to 1983, with the first 45 sets delivered in 1982 with the first section electrified and the remaining batches delivered when a further section was electrified from Tai Po Market to Lo Wu Station. Two further batches were ordered in 1986 and 1990, comprising a total of 118 three-car sets, totaling 354 cars. The sets produced in the four batches were officially designated the 3094, K01, K03 and K05 Stock. The sets were built by Metro-Cammell at Washwood Heath in Birmingham, similar to the M-Train used on various urban lines.
When the sets initially entered service there were occasional losses of electricity throughout the entire set because of dead zones. When in service, train length was inconsistent, with the trains formed in formations of 3, 6, 9 or 12 cars. To cope with increasing ridership the sets were extended further until the set length was standardized at 12 cars by 1992; a total of twenty-nine twelve-car sets were formed from the 354 cars, with one set, E44, left over. When not in service the sets were stationed at Ho Tung Lau Depot.
Refurbishment was carried out by GEC-Alsthom, Metro-Cammell's successor company, from 1996 to 1999, to increase their lifespans; the sets were arranged into either a 3+3+6 formation or a 3+3+3+3 formation to make a fixed formation of twelve cars per set. Withdrawals of the sets began in 2021, with these and the SP1900 sets replaced with R-Trains; E71/E112 operated the last service of the MLR Train on 6 May 2022, on the 40th anniversary of the East Rail Line's electrification. E71/E112 left Hung Hom Station at 13:00 HKT to much fanfare, bringing the MLR Train's 40-year service life to a close.
==Design==
The MLR Trains feature a boxy design. Originally featuring a white body with yellow cabs, the cars feature a silver body with black and red accents; due to their initial appearance the MLR Trains were nicknamed "Yellow Heads". Two LED displays featuring the train running number and a destination indicator are located in the middle of the cab.
During their refurbishments the trains were extensively rebuilt with new front ends with detrainment doors and numerous other interior improvements.
==Specifications==
Construction of the sets is of aluminum and plastic. The sets were initially shipped with GEC tap changer drives before being changed to GEC GTO thyristor phase control powering GEC G315AZ DC wound motors. The sets ride on Duewag SF2100 bogies with other parts by Faiveley Transport; these were originally manufactured using a BREL design of bogie.
==Incidents==
E45 was involved in a derailment between Sheung Shui and Lo Wu Stations on 25 November 1984; the set was immediately decommissioned after the derailment and scrapped.
E81/E21 was involved in a derailment approaching Hung Hom Station on 17 September 2019. Some cars from the set were scrapped as a result.
Minor underframe cracking was detected on numerous MLR Trains in 2005.
==Preservation==
E44, the only unrefurbished set not able to be formed into a 12 car set, is located at the Station Rail Voyage museum in the former Hung Hom Station; it was formerly stored at Ho Tung Lau Depot. Alongside it, set E71 (a 6 car half of the last MLR Train) is also preserved there. 
A portion of car 361 is located at Ying Wa College, repurposed as a classroom, alongside a portion of MTR Phase II LRV car 1088.
Two cars, 196 and 377, are to be used as leisure spaces at the Wan Chai Promenade.
Various parts from retired MLR Trains are used as an art exhibit titled Rebirth located in Tai Wai.
==Gallery==
MTR Yellowhead.jpg|Unrefurbished set
Category:Electric trainsets
Category:Metro-Cammell locomotives
Category:KCR trains
Category:MTR trains