New South Wales Endeavour railcar

Endeavour Railcar
Endeavour Railcar
	2851 and 2801 at Waratah station
	Refurbished interior
In service	1994–present
Manufacturer	ABB
Built at	Dandenong
Replaced	620/720 class railcars, DEB set railcars, Tulloch railcars
Constructed	1994–1996
Entered service	March 1994
Refurbished	2009–2010, 2017
Number built	30 carriages (15 sets)
Number in service	28 carriages (14 sets)
Successor	R set
Formation	2-car sets
Fleet numbers	TE 2801–2815; LE 2851–2865;
Capacity	95 (TE) 82 (LE)
Operators	NSW TrainLink
Lines served	Blue Mountains (to Bathurst); Hunter; South Coast (between Kiama and Bomaderry); Southern Highlands;
Specifications
Train length	50.5 m (165 ft 8 in)
Car length	25.25 m (82 ft 10 in)
Width	2.92 m (9 ft 7 in)
Height	4.11 m (13 ft 6 in)
Doors	Single leaf plug door, two per side per car
Maximum speed	160 km/h (99 mph) (design); 145 km/h (90 mph) (service);
Weight	56.6 t (55.7 long tons; 62.4 short tons) (TE); 57.2 t (56.3 long tons; 63.1 short tons) (LE);
Prime mover(s)	Cummins KTA-19R
Power output	383 kW (514 hp)
Transmission	Voith T311r KB260, with Voith Turbo V15 20 final drive
Auxiliaries	Cummins LT10R(G) – 135 kW (181 hp)
Bogies	PJA (Power), NJA (Trailer)
Coupling system	Scharfenberg
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The Endeavour Railcars are a class of diesel multiple units operated by NSW TrainLink on passenger rail services in New South Wales, Australia on the Hunter, Blue Mountains (to Bathurst), Southern Highlands and South Coast lines (between Kiama and Bomaderry). They are mechanically identical to the Xplorers. All 30 carriages were built by ABB's Dandenong rolling stock factory.

Fourteen two-carriage sets were ordered in April 1992 to replace Class 620/720 railcars, DEB set railcars and locomotive hauled stock, with the first entering service in March 1994.^[1]^[2] In November 1994, one further two-carriage set was ordered.^[3] All are scheduled to be replaced in 2026-2027 by the R sets.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Features

Each set consists of two carriages, one having a wheelchair-accessible toilet (TE), and the other having luggage space and bicycles racks (LE). All cars are air-conditioned. They operate as four carriage sets on a few peak hour services.

Each car is powered by a Cummins KTA-19R diesel engine rated at 383 kW (514 hp) at 1800rpm coupled to a Voith T311r hydraulic transmission driving both axles on one bogie via Voith Turbo V15/19 final drives. The transmission incorporates a Voith KB260/r hydrodynamic brake. An auxiliary 135 kW (181 hp) Cummins LT10R(G) diesel engine drives a Newage Stamford UCI274F alternator to supply power for the air conditioning and lighting.^[7]

The maximum speed of Endeavour railcars is 160 km/h (99 mph) but in service this is limited to 145 km/h (90 mph).

In service

An Endeavour in original livery departing Warabrook in May 2007

Endeavours operate on four lines:

Hunter: between Newcastle Interchange and Maitland or Telarah, with some services extending to Dungog and Scone
Main Western: the Bathurst Bullet service, between Sydney Central and Bathurst
Southern Highlands: between Campbelltown and Moss Vale, with some services extending to Goulburn and Sydney Central
Illawarra: between Bomaderry and Kiama

Endeavours previously operated weekend only Wollongong to Moss Vale services.^[8]

Refurbishment

In 2009–2010, the Endeavours, along with the Xplorers, were refurbished by Bombardier Transportation's Dandenong rolling stock factory. The refurbishment included:^[9]

New reversible 3x2 seats, as found on the Hunter railcars and H sets, the seat covers are made of woollen moquette fabric which is more durable and vandal proof
Vinyl flooring, replacing the original carpet flooring
Voiceovers to closing the doors
Improved air-conditioning system
Improved crew facilities
A new livery (blue and yellow front, black window band and underskirts, and yellow doors)

Second Refurbishment

In 2017, the Endeavours were refurbished by Downer in Cardiff. The refurbishment includes:

New lighting
New flooring, similar to the Waratahs
New livery
Refurbished seating
New drivers window wipers
Refurbished Couplers (Auto and Intermediate)

Conversions to Xplorers

The similarities of the Endeavours and Xplorers have allowed easy conversions. Endeavour carriages LE 2865 and TE 2815 were converted to Xplorer carriages EA 2508 and EC 2528. Endeavour carriage TE 2805 was temporarily converted to an Xplorer carriage between September and November 2007. The CityRail logos were removed and its skirts painted black, but it otherwise retained its livery. It also retained its carriage number.

References

^ "CityRail to have Explorers too" Railway Digest May 1992
^ "Endeavours Enter Service Only Days After Launch" Railway Digest May 1994
^ "More Xplorer & Endeavour Cars Ordered" Railway Digest December 1994
^ NSW Region train fleet on track Archived 15 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine Transport for New South Wales 14 August 2017
^ NSW seeks private finance for regional fleet Archived 18 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine International Railway Journal 15 August 2017
^ NSW regional train fleet to be replaced Archived 19 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine Railway Gazette International 15 August 2017
^ Xplorer/Endeavour Operating Manual. ABB Transportation. 1994.
^ "New Timetable Sees Demise of Loco-Hauled Services" Railway Digest July 1994
^ CountryLink train refurbishment Hansard 1 September 2010 New South Wales Legislative Assembly
^ "NEWSLETTER No 7/2007" (PDF). Rail Technical Society of Australasia SA Chapter. July 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2008. Retrieved 29 April 2019.