Nicholas Archer, Metro Rail employee and CFA volunteer Credit:Facebook In an out of court sessions hearing on Sunday evening, police said that in his position at Metro, Mr Archer's role included the "operation and maintenance of trains" and as a CFA volunteer he understood the "basic principles of arson investigation". It was alleged Mr Archer, who has been employed by Metro since 2008, broke into a stationary train at the Hurstbridge line about 1.50am on November 11. Informant Detective Senior Constable Lisa Bos, from the Transit Crime Investigation Unit, said the accused had entered the rear driver's cabin of a train in the rail holding yard, and used a controller to start the train. The informant said Mr Archer had then driven the train forward and, as the train gathered speed, a security guard was forced to dive out of the train's path.

A train at Hurstbridge station was derailed in November. Credit:Penny Stephens The train derailed due to a security device on the tracks. During the incident, the train crashed into stationary carriages, fencing and security boxes leaving an estimated damage bill of $3 million. During police interviews, Mr Archer told police he was aware people were in the yard at the time. Mr Archer has been accused of lighting a fire in the Clonbinane CFA Fire Station, where he is a volunteer firefighter. Credit:Facebook Mr Archer was also accused of lighting a fire in the Clonbinane CFA Fire Station, where he was a volunteer firefighter, at midnight on July 16 of last year.

Senior Constable Lisa Bos said the accused had reported the fire to triple-0 and driven a fire tanker out of the building, later claiming he had been first on the scene. Senior Constable Bos said his quick actions were later "praised by colleagues". The alleged serial arson was intercepted by police in the early hours of Saturday morning, after he and another man allegedly lit a fire in a rubber matting specialist business in Brooklyn about midnight. Police investigated the pair after smelling smoke on them, and a search warrant was executed at Mr Archer's house on Saturday. He was questioned and charged on Sunday. His alleged co-accused, the partner of Mr Archer's cousin, has also been charged in relation to the Brooklyn fire, which is estimated to have a damage bill of $50,000. Mr Archer was denied bail and remanded in custody and will face the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday.

The court heard the 27-year-old was single and lived in a Waterford Park home he had bought four years ago. Police said they were in contact with his employer, Metro Rail. Senior Constable Lisa Bos told the bail justice the accused had made admissions to police in relation to all offences he faced, and had participated in police re-enactments of the Hurstbridge train derailment as well as other fires he allegedly lit at Mt Disappointment in December and Kilmore East earlier this month. The accused became emotional at the out of court sessions hearing when he told the bail justice he wanted to "move on". "In a way, it's good that I have been caught," he said. "I've learnt that I definitely need to see a counsellor more now." Mr Archer said he had depression, but admitted he had never seen a doctor to discuss the mental illness. He also said he had used a telephone counselling service provided by his employer on a regular basis up until one year ago.

Also included in the string of offences were several arson and sabotage offences at railway stations including Newport, Sunshine North and Tottenham. Police said the offences had caused massive disruptions to train services, including Metro and V/Line services. On July 22 last year, Mr Archer is alleged to have damaged signal cabling at Newport railway signal hut at 7.45pm, started a fire at the Tottenham railway signal hut at 11pm before also damaging signal cabling at the Sunshine North Railway signal hut at 11.30pm. The damage bill of the three incidents was estimated by Metro to be $600,000. Mr Archer was also accused of starting two fires at the Newport Steam Rail Club warehouse, where he was also a volunteer, on March 4, 2015 at 1.20am and August 8 at 2.45am. The informant told the out of court sessions hearing Mr Archer had stated in police interviews that on one of these occasions he had sat nearby and watched the fire burn for an hour. Mr Archer was also accused of throwing lit sparklers out of his vehicle while driving along Sunday Creek Road in Kilmore East on February 3 of this year, starting a small grassfire near two farmhouses. During a re-enactment of the incident with police, Mr Archer told detectives he knew homes may have been in danger.

He has also been charged with lighting a fire at the Newport fire museum at 8pm on the evening of November 24, 2009. Police said the total cost of damage allegedly caused by Mr Archer was "substantial".