Yet another Citadis battery fire

[Matthew Geier]

Just saw a report of another Sydney Citadis 305 turning its traction battery into copious quantities of smoke. That's about the 3rd one in as many months. Network shutdown while the power is isolated at Central and the fire people do their thing.

And i've also seen a report of a set going into service with the traction batteries isolated, so it was running a short working just to Central, waiting there for 40 minutes and then heading back out on it's diagram.

There is a dead APS segment right at Bridge Street stop, so there isn't even the possibility to coast over the dead section.

Traction batteries on trams are turning into a liability. And it's not as if the technology doesn't exist to properly manage HV batteries.

[TP]

Traction batteries have been around about 30 years, but only in recent years have they been expected to power the trams for long periods of running. Whether there's a relationship I don't know. As with any electric vehicle, they also add significant weight to the tram, affecting its payload and/or stress on the track.

Tony P

[Matthew Geier]

Unable to confirm at this time, but it looks like L2/L3 are now totally shutdown and ONRSR is involved. 3 battery 'fires' in a short period has gotten attention.

This mornings tram was an LX service, so it started smoking while high school children were boarding - the moment it got back that kids were on a 'burning tram', the fur would have started flying.

Yes, traction batteries are 'old tech' there is no excuse for them overheating and 'letting the magic smoke' out.

(In no cases were there actual flames as far as I know, the batteries overheated and 'vented' producing copious amounts of smoke)

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[espee8800]

String up the wire and piss the batteries off I say !!!!

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cheers and best wishes,
David in Avenel.au,    
[Before you change anything, learn why it is the way it is.]

[Matthew Geier]

I hope Melbourne is paying attention. 

The G class have HV traction batteries and are being built by Alstom.

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[bblun...@yahoo.com]

Just got notification that services have resumed. 13:04

Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

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[Matthew Geier]

And I've just been sent a picture that apparently shows actual flames coming off the battery at Surrey Hills. (The tram was inbound).  It was stopped and dealt with by fire services at Central.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tramsdownunder/1083730112.5123751.1772676308476%40mail.yahoo.com.

[Matthew Geier]

And the pictures are posted on Twitter and Reddit. Some what public.

On 5/3/26 13:05, 'bblun...@yahoo.com' via TramsDownUnder wrote:

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[Tony Galloway]

I posted a comment on the solution-in-search-of-a-problem of traction batteries on trams, and the absurdity of the aversion to OHW.

Tony

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[espee8800]

Paywall.

On Thu, 5 Mar 2026 at 15:31, 'Tony Galloway' via TramsDownUnder <tramsdo...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

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cheers and best wishes,
David in Avenel.au,    
[Before you change anything, learn why it is the way it is.]

Virus-free.www.avg.com

[Stuart Keenan]

https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/news/light-rail-fire-in-sydneys-inner-suburbs-sparks-commuter-chaos/news-story/74c91e4ca3f40a27d6299daaa8f5b840

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