Sydney Trains K set
K set | |
---|---|
In service | 1981–2024 |
Manufacturer | A Goninan & Co |
Built at | Broadmeadow |
Constructed | 1981–1985 |
Refurbished | late 1990s |
Number built | 160 carriages |
Number in service | 160 carriages |
Successor | Converted H sets |
Formation | 4-car sets |
Fleet numbers |
|
Capacity | 452 (108 in power cars, 118 in trailers) |
Operators | Sydney Trains |
Depots | Flemington |
Lines served | |
Specifications | |
Train length | 81.54 m (267 ft 6+1⁄4 in) |
Car length | 20,385 mm (66 ft 10+1⁄2 in) |
Width | 3,036 mm (9 ft 11+1⁄2 in) |
Height | 4,368 mm (14 ft 4 in) |
Doors | Sliding pocket, 2 per side |
Maximum speed | 115 km/h (71 mph) |
Weight | 188 t (185 long tons; 207 short tons) |
Traction system | standard gauge |
The K sets are a class of electric multiple units that currently operate on the Sydney Trains network. Built by A Goninan & Co, the K sets first entered service in 1981 operating under the State Rail Authority, and later CityRail. The carriages are of stainless steel, double deck construction and share much of their design with the older S sets. All of the 40 K sets originally built (160 carriages) remain in service and are currently the oldest in the Sydney Trains fleet.
Design and construction
The K sets were the first New South Wales suburban trains to be air conditioned and have headlights.
Two orders were placed for the K sets with all manufactured between 1981 and 1985 by A Goninan & Co in Broadmeadow:
- Order 1
Qty | Class | Carriage numbers | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
50 | Power cars | C3501–C3550 | |
4 | Driving trailers | D4096–D4099 | converted to trailer cars 2014 |
46 | Trailer cars | T4171–T4216 |
- Order 2
Qty | Class | Carriage numbers |
---|---|---|
30 | Power cars | C3551–C3580 |
30 | Trailer cars | T4217–T4246 |
The first order featured low mounted upper deck windows, off-white and sagebrush grey interiors, and unpainted fronts. The second order featured higher mounted upper deck windows, yellow and mustard interiors and State Rail Authority candy livery fronts.[2] The first four trailers were built as driving trailers allowing them to operate in two-car formation, although in practice they were formed into four carriage sets and often ran together as one eight-car set until 1988.[3] These also differed in the subsequent deliveries in being fitted with air conditioning from new, rather than pressure ventilation. To provide a spare, C3550 & T4216 were also built with air conditioning. All ten carriages were fitted with different windows, being sheet glass with small opening hoppers. This was replaced with sheet glass in 1993.[4]
To accommodate the air conditioning and associated equipment, the
The control carriages have a flat front, with headlights at the top. They were built with four sets of marker lights, standard at the time. Different combinations of white marker lights were used to indicate different destinations.
Like other trains of the time, the crew compartment contains a smaller compartment for the driver on the left side (in direction of travel). The guard uses the area outside of the driver's compartment, with two manual hinged doors on either side providing access to platforms. Above these doors, on the outside are blue lights indicating which compartment the guard is in.
Each vestibule has two-panel sliding doors on either side. Each door also has a vent underneath the window, which was covered when air-conditioning was installed. The doors cannot detect obstacles and continue pushing against the obstruction until it is removed or the guard reopens the doors. Small orange
In service
All K sets are crewed with a driver and guard. The guard uses the rear cab on a two or four-car train. On eight car trains, the guard usually uses the 5th carriage so that the entire platform can be seen. However the 4th carriage cab can also be used if there is a problem with the 5th carriage one.
All the K sets were delivered to either Hornsby or Punchbowl depots. With the trials on the ten experimental carriages judged successful, in 1986 a programme commenced to retrofit air conditioning to the second order. This saw the Beclawat windows replaced with sheet glass.[5] It would be July 1990 before the programme was completed.[6]
In April 1989, K sets commenced operating peak-hour services via the North Shore line to Gosford.[7] This was extended to Wyong in January 1992.[8] In September 1990, all Punchbowl based sets were transferred to Hornsby.[9][10]
In January 1991, four sets were transferred to
To replace U sets on stopping services between Gosford and Newcastle, the sets with driving trailers were re-marshaled as two-car sets from October 1996.[12]
Following the delivery of the outer suburban Tangara sets in 1994, the K sets ceased operating the Central Coast and Illawarra services.
During the late 1990s, all were refurbished by
After the introduction of a new timetable in October 2009, all K sets were allocated to Hornsby to operate
In mid-2014, K sets are gradually transferred from Hornsby to Flemington resulting in their resumption of service on the
In October 2013, the 2 car K Sets (K1–4) were withdrawn from NSW TrainLink Gosford to Newcastle services. The four driving trailers were converted to ordinary trailers at Hornsby and the sets returned to service on Sydney Trains services in March 2014 as K98 and K99. The existing K98 was re-numbered K91. The driver cabins in these carriages were stripped of controls however the actual walls were kept intact. The doors to the driver cabin are kept locked and the blinds are kept down. There are no passenger seats where the crew compartment used to be. Also, unlike converted S set cars, the round window on the crew compartment doors were removed and covered with a metal plate.
In July 2017, asbestos was found in the circuit breaker panels, which is inside the driver compartment of the K sets, with all withdrawn for inspection for a few weeks.[14] All have since returned to service.
After the introduction of a new timetable in November 2017, all K sets were transferred to Sector 2.
In late 2017 and early 2018, all K sets and C sets were slightly refurbished with all poles and other safety features repainted yellow.
In 2019, set K96 was withdrawn from passenger service and had Automatic Train Protection (ATP) equipment installed. It has conducted ATP testing since then and will be retained following the retirement of the rest of the fleet for this purpose.
K sets operate on the following lines:
- T2 Inner West & Leppington Line: Leppington or Parramatta to City Circle via Granville
- T3 Bankstown Line: Liverpool or Lidcombe to City Circle via Bankstown
- T8 Airport and South Line: Macarthur to City Circle via Airport or Sydenham
They were formerly in operation on the T6
Preservation
While at the moment there are no developed plans for the preservation of any K set cars, Sydney Electric Train Society has expressed interest in preserving at least one. K96 will likely be retained for the purposes of ATP testing after the K sets are withdrawn from revenue service.
Several heritage tours have used K sets prior to retirement, these have been:
- K set to Kick off 1997 Tour (SETS, 08/03/1997)
- New and Old Electrics Tour (SETS, 22/12/2012)[15]
- Rivers to the Shore Tour (HET, 16/04/2023)*
- ARHS K set to Newcastle Tour (HET/ARHS, 27/05/2023)*[1]
*substituted in place of an S set
Further reading
- Beckhaus, John; Halgren, Stephen (2007), Sydney's Electric Trains, Australian Railway Historical Society, NSW Division, ISBN 978-0-9757870-8-3
References
- ^ "Sydney Trains Vlogs: K sets" YouTube
- ^ "D22.98 Interior Colour Scheme for Surburban Trains" Railway Digest May 1984 page 172
- ^ "EMU Review" Railway Digest March 1989 Page 85
- ^ "Other Double Deck Suburbans" Railway Digest August 1993 page 343
- ^ "EMU Review" Railway Digest March 1987 page 69
- ^ "Electric Cars" Railway Digest September 1990 page 330
- ^ "Gosford Services" Railway Digest April 1989 page 143
- ^ "The New Timetable" Railway Digest December 1991 page 453
- ^ "Electric Cars" Railway Digest November 1990 page 403
- ^ "Rolling Stock" Railway Digest December 1990 page 448
- ^ "Electric Cars" Railway Digest March 1991 page 96
- ^ "EMU Review" Railway Digest March 1997 page 38
- ^ "trackrecordfl". Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- ^ Asbestos found in Sydney Trains Nova 96.9 7 July 2017
- ^ "SETS Tours - New and Old Electrics Tour". www.sets.org.au. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
External links
Media related to New South Wales K sets at Wikimedia Commons
- Technical diagrams and specifications Transport for NSW