Connex Melbourne was a train operator in Melbourne, Australia. Formed in October 1997 as Hillside Trains, a business unit of the Public Transport Corporation, it was privatised in August 1999 becoming a subsidiary of Connex. In April 2004, it became the sole operator of Melbourne suburban rail services, taking over the services of M>Train. When the franchise was re-tendered, it was awarded to Metro Trains Melbourne from November 2009. History On 1 October 1997, in preparation for privatisation, the Public Transport Corporation's suburban rail operations were split into two business units, Bayside Trains and Hillside Trains. The latter took over operation of the Lilydale, Belgrave, Alamein, Glen Waverley, Epping (now Mernda) and Hurstbridge line services. Connex successfully bid to take over the Hillside Trains services from 29 August 1999 beating competition from GB Railways and National Express. It was rebranded Hillside Trains as Connex Melbourne in July 2000. In December 2002, National Express withdrew from its operations in Victoria, and the State Government took control of the M>Train franchise. Early in 2003, the government began negotiations with Connex to assume responsibility for all Melbourne's metropolitan train network. An agreement was reached in February 2004 that awarded Connex the exclusive right to operate the entire metropolitan train network from 18 April 2004. In August 2007, Connex's contract was extended until 29 November 2009. Veolia Transport was short listed to bid for the new franchise but lost to Metro Trains Melbourne and ceased operations on 29 November 2009. As at August 2009, Connex Melbourne operated 15 train lines, 331 trains, 12,909 weekly services, and carried about 720,000 passengers each weekday. In 2008/09, 214 million passenger trips were made. Branding After initially retaining the Hillside Trains name, in July 2000, the Connex Melbourne name was introduced. Following Veolia's rebranding of its transport operations from Connex to Veolia Transport on all other transport systems worldwide in late 2005 and early 2006, Connex Melbourne was one of the very few Veolia Transport operations to retain the Connex name. It was not until May 2008 that Connex Melbourne began to publicly acknowledge its connection with the parent company, using the "Connex: A Veolia Transport Company" phrase in publicity material and using the Veolia Transport and Connex brands together. Branding on staff uniforms, trains and station signage was not altered. Operations When the Public Transport Corporation fleet was split, Hillside Trains were allocated 58 three-car Hitachi and