Sydney Trains K set

The K sets are an Australian class of electric multiple unit operated by Sydney Trains in New South Wales. The carriages are of stainless steel, double deck construction.

Design & construction

Hopper window from the first batch of cars showing air hole coverings. When the cars were fitted with air conditioning and the handles were removed, these coverings were placed over the holes that held the handles in place

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 in 1981–85 by A Goninan & Co, Broadmeadow:

• Order 1

50 Power cars: C3501-C3550

4 Driving trailer cars: D4096-D4099, converted to standard trailer cars in 2014

46 Trailer cars: T4171-T4216

• Order 2

30 Power cars: C3551-C3580

30 Trailer cars: T4217-T4246

The first order featured low mounted upper deck windows, cream and brown interiors, and unpainted fronts. The second order featured higher mounted upper deck windows, yellow and mustard interiors and State Rail Authority candy livery fronts.^[1]

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.^[2] 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.^[3]

To accommodate the air conditioning and associated equipment, the pantograph had to be shifted to the adjacent trailer car to which the power car is semi-permanently coupled with high voltage cables connecting the two cars. Although some power cars and trailers have been broken up and married with others during periods of heavy maintenance, many original combinations remain.

In service

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.^[4] It would be July 1990 before the programme was completed.^[5]

In April 1989, K sets commenced operating peak-hour services via the North Shore line to Gosford.^[6] This was extended to Wyong in January 1992.^[7] In September 1990, all Punchbowl based sets were transferred to Hornsby.^[8][9]

In January 1991, four sets were transferred to Flemington Maintenance Depot to operate peak-hour Illawarra line services to Port Kembla.^[10]

To replace U sets on stopping services between Gosford and Newcastle, the sets with driving trailers were remarshaled as two-car sets from October 1996.^[11]

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 A Goninan & Co as part of the CityDecker program. This saw the interiors refurbished with white walls and ceilings, grey floors and blue seats. Power cars received a destination indicator and had yellow applied to the lower half of their fronts. Sliding Beclawat windows on the pressure ventilated cars were replaced with hopper windows and doors painted yellow. The first order was finally retrofitted with air conditioning just prior to the Sydney 2000 Olympics. These cars retained the hopper windows until the late 2000s, but were sealed shut with an adhesive to avoid the loss of air conditioning.

After the introduction of a new timetable in 2009, most K sets were allocated to Hornsby to operate North Shore, Northern & Western line services, operating in 8-car formations. This was due to the noise levels inside trains when operating on the Epping to Chatswood segment. Older S sets do not provide enough sound insulation for passengers, while newer Tangara sets do not have sufficient cooling in the regenerative braking system to cope with extended shuttle runs through the tunnel.

In April 2012, the new Waratah trains begin operating on the North Shore, Northern & Western lines with some K sets transferred from Hornsby to Flemington resulting in their resumption of service on the Airport, Inner West & South, Bankstown, Carlingford and Olympic Park lines.

The K sets currently operate on all Sydney Trains lines except the Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra lines.

In October 2013, the 2 car K Sets 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.

Further reading

• Beckhaus, John; Halgren, Stephen (2007), Sydney's Electric Trains, Australian Railway Historical Society, NSW Division, ISBN 978-0-9757870-8-3 

References

External links

Media related to New South Wales K sets at Wikimedia Commons