Sydney Trains

[paul@skegby.org.]

Anyone give me any idea on the type of trains in or around Sydney Australia.

Particular Central to Katoomba in the Blue mountains.

 

[JonathanH]

Anyone give me any idea on the type of trains in or around Sydney Australia.

Particular Central to Katoomba in the Blue mountains.

Does this help?

http://www.sydneytrains.info/about/fleet/

 

[DownSouth]

Almost all trains on the Blue Mountains line are operated by NSW TrainLink, not Sydney Trains which terminates at Penrith in the western suburbs.

• Central to Lithgow trains (including going through Katoomba) use the V Sets - double deck 1500V EMUs, British-style high platforms have the entry/exit doors at the middle level with the main seating areas both above and below from there. These are very nice, the design had a number of production batches between 1970 and 1989 with only those from the 1980s remaining in use and having been refurbished recently.
• Central to Springwood (outer western suburbs, at the foot of the Blue Mountains) peak trains use the more recent H Set 'OSCAR' double deck EMUs.
• Central to Bathurst trains use the Endeavour regional DMU, probably roughly equivalent to a Class 170.
• Central to Broken Hill trains use the Xplorer DMU, this is mechanically similar to the Endeavour but with an interior fitted out for longer trips.
• Central to Dubbo trains use the XPT. This combines locally built power cars similar to the HST with Budd-designed coaches which were chosen over the BREL Mark 3 design.

Once or twice a week (depending on the season) Great Southern Rail operate the Indian-Pacific to/from Adelaide and Perth, this is typically about 25 cars long and hauled over the Blue Mountains by a pair of NR Class locomotives (3100kW of GE Dash 9 power). These use comfortable Budd-designed coaches ordered in the late 1960s which have been through a couple of refurbishments in that time, and can be spotted by the outside having the distinctive Budd fluted stainless steel bodies.

If you don't mind spending half a day in the town of Orange and staying somewhere there overnight, it's possible to do an out-and-back trip combining both the Indian-Pacific and the XPT, but the tickets would need to be booked separately.

 

[Springs Branch]

JonathanH and Down South gave succinct answers to your question.

For more detail on the V-sets on the Blue Mountains line, see this Wikipedia page.

Sydney has a large metropolitan area and an extensive & busy urban rail network. Most (but not all) trains are 4-car & 8-car double-deck 1500V DC overhead EMU, all of them quite different to anything you can see operating in the UK.
There are many variations within the fleet, from 1970s vintage to brand new, with inner and outer-suburban flavours (as you can see from the Sydney Trains web link). Wikipedia also has a page which links to the individual types.

 

[Clip]

Almost all trains on the Blue Mountains line are operated by NSW TrainLink, not Sydney Trains which terminates at Penrith in the western suburbs.

• Central to Lithgow trains (including going through Katoomba) use the V Sets - double deck 1500V EMUs, British-style high platforms have the entry/exit doors at the middle level with the main seating areas both above and below from there. These are very nice, the design had a number of production batches between 1970 and 1989 with only those from the 1980s remaining in use and having been refurbished recently.
  .

• 
  
  Cracking trains these and great views from up top.

 

[Addington]

Sydney is the only Australian city to still have non-air conditioned rolling stock. Whilst only now "officially" rostered on the Olympic Park line (one stop on a branch), they are still in regular service.

 

[185]

Sydney is the only Australian city to still have non-air conditioned rolling stock. Whilst only now "officially" rostered on the Olympic Park line (one stop on a branch), they are still in regular service.

In fairness capacity is key, and when down under I've noticed even at the height of peak most trains are unlike their UK sardine-esque counterparts. Aircon is a plus, especially in the 42c heat, but I'd rather be on a hot empty train with the windows open than on a sweaty full one :P

I think they were using the old bins on the Rosehill / Carlingford branch when I was there in Christmas 2012.

 

[Addington]

In fairness capacity is key, and when down under I've noticed even at the height of peak most trains are unlike their UK sardine-esque counterparts. Aircon is a plus, especially in the 42c heat, but I'd rather be on a hot empty train with the windows open than on a sweaty full one :P

I think they were using the old bins on the Rosehill / Carlingford branch when I was there in Christmas 2012.

It depends which line you are on. Most of the expresses from Penrith are packed inbound at Parramatta. Similarly, the Illawarra line is close to capacity.

I have yet to see an air conditioned set on the Carlingford line, even though all four car sets are supposed to now be run by either 4DD C, or a 4DD K.

 

[LLivery]

The rest of the network have the 1980s ''T Sets" (Tangara), 2002 "M Sets" (Millennium), 1970s "S, K & C Sets" and the newest trains which are the "A Sets" called Warathas, the only fixed 8 car sets. Though I've never been to Sydney I believe they all pretty much run over the whole of CityRail's Suburban Network (now known of course as Sydney Trains) apart from the Tangaras which I think are rare on the Bankstown and Airport & East Hills lines? - Correct me if I'm wrong. The trains do look great to travel on, though looks like it could be a little faster on the Main Western between Central & Emu Plains - it just takes too long.

 

[LesS]

The network covering the Sydney metropolitan area is extensive and covers some considerable mileages. All of the car sets are multi-level (double deck) and over 90% are air-conditioned. You would need to be unlucky/lucky to get a non-air train on most services. Except for the Illawarra line, 'A' sets (Waratahs) tend to dominate services. All 78 sets are between 3 years and 6 months old.

Sydney Trains operate the "inter-city" services for NSW Trainlink. This covers the Blue Mountains and services to the South Coast and Newcastle. All Blue Mountains services operating past Springwood are V sets (inter-urbans) because of a narrower loading gauge. Off peak & at weekends they are 4 car sets.

Longer distance services on the mountains include the Indian Pacific; usually on wednesdays; a daily 2 car DRC to/from Bathurst and an XPT daily to Dubbo. There is a weekly service to Broken Hill. Very few freight services operate over he mountains but there is a consistent service of coal trains.

Visitors tend to always visit Katoomba. Much better scenery can be experienced on the Central Coast between Sydney and Gosford, (trains every half hour); sit on the right hand side of the train. For clifftop/ocean views the South Coast is a must. Sydney to Kiama. Trains are hourly and take just under 3 hours. Sit on the left hand side of the train.

Do enjoy any visit you make.