Sydney Trains A set

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Waratah
Sydney Trains A set (Waratah) departing Central Station (2).jpg
Waratah set A34 at Sydney Central
Manufacturer Reliance Rail/Downer Rail
Built at Changchun Railway Vehicles, Changchun, China and Downer Rail, Cardiff
Constructed 2010 to 2014
Entered service 2011-2014
Number in service 78
Number scrapped 1 (A2) Acid spill while in transit back to China and rebuilt as A80
Formation 8 cars
Fleet numbers A1, A3-A78, A80
Capacity 896 seated including 16 wheelchair spaces
Operator(s) Sydney Trains
Depot(s) Auburn Maintenance Centre
Line(s) served
Specifications
Car body construction Stainless Steel
Train length 163.1 m (535 ft 1 in)
Car length 20.000 m (65 ft 7 in)
Width 3.035 m (9 ft 11 in)
Height 4.410 m (14 ft 6 in)
Maximum speed 130 km/h (81 mph)
Weight 404 t (398 long tons; 445 short tons)
Traction system Two converters per motor car utilising spread spectrum modulation. Four AC motors per car (Supplier: Hitachi, Japan)
Acceleration 1 m/s2 (3.3 ft/s2)
Deceleration 1 m/s2 (3.3 ft/s2)
Train heating Two independent cooling units per car: 38 kW (51 hp) cooling, 24 kW (32 hp) heating
Electric system(s) 1,500 V DC catenary
Current collection method pantograph
Braking system(s) Regenerative brake with blended electro-pneumatic wheel mounted disc brakes (Supplier: Knorr-Bremse, Germany)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)

The Sydney Trains A set or Waratah is a class of electric multiple unit trains operated by Sydney Trains in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The train was named Waratah by the NSW Government after the flower of the same name, which is the state's floral emblem.

The design is based on the M set and is the largest rolling stock order in Australia's history. The 626 carriages make up around half of the Sydney Trains fleet, and replaced two-thirds of the 498 S set carriages. Delivery commenced in July 2011 and was completed in June 2014.

Public Private Partnership

The carriages were delivered by a joint venture between Downer Rail and Hitachi for Reliance Rail under a Public Private Partnership (PPP).[1] As part of the PPP, Reliance Rail will also maintain the trains for a minimum of 30 years at the purpose built Auburn Maintenance Centre facility.[2] At least 72 sets must be made available to Sydney Trains every day during the contract period.

Reliance Rail took on debts of $2.4 billion at cheap interest rates before the global financial crisis.[3] Higher interest rates and changes in the financial sector after the GFC meant the company would have difficulty refinancing its debt, leading the Government of New South Wales into talks with Reliance Rail to resolve the financial status of the project.[4] In February 2012 the Government agreed to bail out the project for $175 million by becoming the sole shareholder in 2018.[3][5][6]

Design

The sets are formed of eight carriages – a break from the previous standard Sydney practice of four car sets, which are then coupled to form eight car trains. The configuration is: trailer driving car + motor car + motor car + trailer car + trailer car + motor car + motor car + trailer driving car.[1] This means that guards operate from the rear of the train rather than the centre and that commuters are able to walk through the entire train in an emergency. Nightshine Australia was selected to produce luminescent arrow signs line, which are affixed on the base of outer seats on the lower and upper decks to direct passengers the most appropriate route of exit.[7] The trains include external CCTV cameras to assist guards.[8]

File:A set carriage end cityrail.jpg
The train's guards' compartment is located in the last carriage

Inside, the train includes additional Emergency Help Points and CCTV cameras. Thales Australia was awarded the contract to design the train's extensive system of 98 CCTV cameras, Digital Video Recorders, Guard video display units, passenger information displays, emergency intercoms, audio servers, PA systems and hearing loops, which are linked together with Power over Ethernet. The audio and communication system supplied by Open Access Pty Ltd included 8 channels of audio per car with extensive DSP to optimize audio quality and intelligibility. The Hearing Loop system was a world first Class-D based amplifier and utilised 3 loops per car. Hearing loop coverage exceeded 90% of the vehicle. The CCTV cameras supplied by Axis Communications utilise Progressive scanning technology to allow capturing of events in clear high resolution, with no distortion in quick movement individual frames.[9] The CCTV cameras are designed to withstand vibration and features technologies such as an in-built heater to prevent condensation and alarms to alert of removal or obstruction.[10] The train flooring utilises Treadmaster TM8, made from a polymer-based material that is designed to be durable, vandal and graffiti resistant. They are also designed with safety in mind, being highly fire resistant with low smoke toxicity output.[11] Carriage interiors were designed by Transport Design International [12]

Improvements to the DVAs (Digital Voice Announcements) with differential pitch of the voice allow more natural sounding speech. All the stations included in the stopping pattern are also announced prior to or soon after departure from a terminus stop. ‘Smart’ air-conditioning automatically adjusts to the outside temperature and the number of passengers on board.[13] Accessibility features include 16 wheelchair spaces, portable wheelchair ramps in the end cars, red fabric on priority seating and additional handrails compared to older trains in the fleet.[8]

The A set is the first passenger train in the world to use LED lamps for all lighting (except headlights).[14] Woollen moquette fabric, a durable, vandal-resistant material first used in the OSCAR trains, Hunter Railcars, and later adopted in the refurbishments of both the Tangara and Endeavour railcars, is used to cover the train's seats.[14] Detailed design of the train was completed in July 2009.[15]

Construction and delivery

File:Railway maintenance facilities Auburn.jpg
Auburn Maintenance Centre (in the centre)
File:A set inter-carriage doors closeup cityrail.jpg
The inter-carriage doors feature a new mechanism for opening during an emergency, in response to Justice McInerney's Report into the Waterfall rail accident recommending the development of alternative emergency exits for passengers

The joint venture between Downer EDi Rail and Hitachi was established to design, manufacture and commission the trains.[1] The stainless steel bodies are partially constructed by Changchun Railway Vehicles in China before being shipped to Downer EDI’s Cardiff Locomotive Workshops facility for final assembly, testing and commissioning.[1] The manufacturing facility at Cardiff received an upgrade of over $20 million to cater for the needs of the project.[1] Other infrastructure works included the construction of a the Auburn Maintenance Centre and new substations at various locations around the network.[16]

A four car pre-production test train was built to test the train sub-systems and compatibility with the Sydney suburban network.[1] This was intended to allow any issues with the train to be corrected before the production trains entered service.[1] The test train was expected to perform trial runs from mid 2009,[1] but did not begin network testing until April 2010.[17] The pre-production train concluded testing in August 2010.[18] The first production set began network testing in August 2010[18] and by November 2010, three sets were undergoing testing.[19]

The first trains were scheduled to be introduced in late 2010, but a series of delays pushed back their introduction.[20][21] The first train intended for service (A3) was delivered to then-operator CityRail for acceptance on 20 April 2011.[22] CityRail had 20 business days to accept or reject the train, but a decision was postponed by two weeks to allow Downer EDi to correct further defects.[23] CityRail rejected the train due to safety concerns and a number of defects.[24] The defects included; 'Milky' effect windscreens – apparent when under direct sunlight, no padding in the carriage ceilings, cables obstructing the driver's view, poor-quality steel welding as evident in the indents seen on some areas of the carriage exterior, gaps in the plastic moulding, handrails not lining up with stairs and software problems.[6][25]

Once the majority of the problems were resolved by Downer EDi, CityRail allowed A3 to commence service, though operating under special conditions.[26] It entered service on 1 July 2011,[27] operating its maiden run from Redfern to Macarthur via the City Circle and Airport. Initially, it operated two return services from the City to Macarthur via the Airport line during the off-peak period on weekdays, and all day on the Airport & East Hills and South lines on weekends. On 14 October 2011, A3 became the first Waratah set to operate during peak hours.[28] As more Waratahs became available, the trains were progressively rolled out to most lines of the Sydney suburban network. On 2 June 2014, the State Government announced the final Waratah set (A80) had been delivered.[16]

In service

Waratah set A3 awaiting departure at Campbelltown, on a service to Circular Quay via the South Line

Originally the Waratahs were intended to replace all 498 S set carriages,[29] but in February 2013 it was revealed that some S sets would still be required in order to provide services on the South West Rail Link.[30] An option existed to extend the order but in March 2013 the government indicated it would not take this up.[31] Instead, in May 2014, the government announced its intention to purchase around 520 new carriages for the NSW TrainLink intercity network. These new trains are set to commence service in 2019 and will release at least some H sets from intercity services, allowing them to be transferred to Sydney Trains to replace the remaining S sets.[32]

Formation

The 626 carriages form 78 eight car sets (numbered A1, A3 to A78 and A80)with 2 spare driving cars. Individual vehicles are numbered as follows:

  • A1: D6301-N5301-N5501-T6501-T6601-N5601-N5401-D6401
  • A3: D6303-N5303-N5503-T6503-T6603-N5603-N5403-D6403

up to

  • A78: D6378-N5378-N5578-T6578-T6678-N5678-N5478-D6478
  • A80 (Former A2): D6380-N5380-N5580-T6580-T6680-N5680-N5480-D6480

The two spare driving cars are D6379 and D6479. These were the first vehicles delivered, along with N5342 and N5442, and are part of the four car testing and development train.

The first 40 sets were delivered to CityRail with the NSW Government's Waratah logo on each carriage. Following the formation of Sydney Trains in July 2013 these were replaced by the Sydney Trains logo and the sides of the train near the driver's cabs were covered with an orange wrap.

The A sets currently operate on these lines:

Gallery

  • A-set
  • A set lower deck cityrail1.jpg

    Lower deck

  • A set upper deck1 cityrail 2.jpg

    Upper deck

  • A set stairs safety cityrail.jpg

    Stairs, hand rails, doors and longitudinal seating

  • A set vestibule fold-up seats cityrail.jpg

    Seats in some of the vestibules can be folded up to improve access for wheelchair users, the red fabric indicates 'priority' seating for less mobile people who don't require a wheelchair

  • A set idi cctv cityrail.jpg

    Each Internal destination indicator includes a CCTV camera (circled) beside it to monitor carriage activity

  • A set exterior cctv cityrail.jpg

    The trains are the only Sydney Trains fleet to feature external CCTV cameras to assist Guards when it is not possible to view the platform physically

  • A set end carriage vestibule cityrail.jpg

    End carriage vestibule

  • A set exterior carriage cityrail.jpg

    Exterior appearance of the carriage side

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Rolling Stock Public Private Partnership For Rail Corporation of New South Wales Downer EDi Rail
  2. ↑ Reliance Rail project page
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 [1]
  7. ↑ Our Customers & Projects. Nightshine
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sydney's new train. Reliance Rail.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Downer Statement on Waratah Trains. Downer EDI. 3 November 2010.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ http://www.downergroup.com/Media/Announcements/
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Where the Waratah train is operating
  29. ↑ Where the Waratah train is operating Sydney Trains
  30. ↑ New Trains Won't Run on All Rail Lines Channel 7 20 February 2013
  31. ↑ Commuters stuck with old trains on new rail link Sydney Morning Herald 15 March 2013
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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