that they must apply for planning permits, whether they were legally obliged to or not. The building was redesigned with a lower profile, which meant that completion was delayed until early 1980. That, in turn, delayed of the opening of the City Loop past August 1980. Control of suburban trains by Metrol commenced on 13 September 1980. As part of the removal of Jolimont Yard, the Metrol building was demolished in 1999, and Metrol operations were moved to Transport House (589 Collins Street, Melbourne). The functions of Electrol were relocated to a permanent location elsewhere. The Transport House location was only intended to be temporary, pending the replacement of the elderly technology with a new system; however, as of July 2017 Metrol was still at the same location (now named 595 Collins Street). When National Express was franchised to operate half of the Melbourne suburban network, after the privatisation of the system, the company was required, under its contractual obligations, to develop a new Metrol system by June 2001. Work on the Train Management Facility started when Bombardier Transportation was awarded an $11 million contract, with completion due for mid-2001. The project included plans for a back-up "disaster recovery centre" at Melbourne Central station. In 2003 the State Government cancelled the then $18 million contract, saying it was unhappy with the deal. On 28 June 2005, a leak in an air-conditioning hose caused Metrol to be shut down for two hours from 11.40am, causing 30,000 passengers to be stranded and 66 trains cancelled, with 23 more trains cancelled later in the day due to flow-on effects. Train operator Connex Melbourne was fined $300,000 by the State Government for failing performance benchmarks. A second attempt to provide a replacement train control centre was announced in May 2006, as part of the State Government's "Meeting Our Transport Challenges" policy, and was costed at $88 million. The first stage was a $27 million contract, awarded to Westinghouse Rail Systems Australia in March 2007, for the design and installation of the new Train Control and Monitoring System. A customised version of the SystematICS control system was to be provided, with completion expected in November 2010. At a later date, separate contracts were to be offered for a new passenger information system, a new reporting system, and a refurbishment of the central control facility. References External links Photos: Vicsig.net: Inside Metrol Public transport in Melbourne