Written By: Duck Wilson
Photos By: Duck Wilson, Thomas Bulic and Dean Jones
Page Last Updated: 20/7/20
J7 departs East Maitland with a service for Telarah. (16/4/18)
Photo By: Dean Jones |
The NSW Hunter Railcars are a class of Diesel Multiple Unit in service with NSW Trainlink. Fourteen carriages making up seven two-carriage sets were built by United Goninan of Broadmeadow, with the first set entering service with CityRail on 23/11/2006.
They operate exclusively on NSW Trainlink’s (formerly CityRail’s) Hunter Line service, hence the name, where they replaced the last seven 620/720 railcar sets. |
Origin
By the late 1990s, the 620/720 class railcars operating CityRail’s Hunter Line service from Newcastle to Maitland, Dungog and Scone, which entered service in 1961, were fast approaching forty years old and were in need of replacement. The introduction of the Endeavour Railcars in 1994 was intended to replace the fifteen remaining 620/720 sets, but when several Endeavours were instead allocated to the Southern Highlands Line, a fleet of seven 620/720 sets was retained to operate Hunter Line services alongside the Hunter-based Endeavour sets.
In 2001, the State Rail Authority called tenders for seven sets to replace the remaining Hunter-based 620/720 sets. The successful tenderer was United Goninan of Newcastle, based in Broadmeadow. This was to be the United Group’s first (and so far, only) fleet of railcars built for NSW services.
Technical Specifications
Just as ABB Transportation’s basis for the Endeavour’s design had come from Western Australia, United derived their design for the Hunter Railcars from the WDA/WDB/WDC Railcars they had built for WestRail’s (now TransWA)’s Prospector, Avonlink and Merredinlink services in 2000. However, a key difference is that each Hunter car is single engine (as opposed to dual-engined on the WDA/WDB/WDC cars), due to the Hunter Line’s lower top speed requirement.
By the late 1990s, the 620/720 class railcars operating CityRail’s Hunter Line service from Newcastle to Maitland, Dungog and Scone, which entered service in 1961, were fast approaching forty years old and were in need of replacement. The introduction of the Endeavour Railcars in 1994 was intended to replace the fifteen remaining 620/720 sets, but when several Endeavours were instead allocated to the Southern Highlands Line, a fleet of seven 620/720 sets was retained to operate Hunter Line services alongside the Hunter-based Endeavour sets.
In 2001, the State Rail Authority called tenders for seven sets to replace the remaining Hunter-based 620/720 sets. The successful tenderer was United Goninan of Newcastle, based in Broadmeadow. This was to be the United Group’s first (and so far, only) fleet of railcars built for NSW services.
Technical Specifications
Just as ABB Transportation’s basis for the Endeavour’s design had come from Western Australia, United derived their design for the Hunter Railcars from the WDA/WDB/WDC Railcars they had built for WestRail’s (now TransWA)’s Prospector, Avonlink and Merredinlink services in 2000. However, a key difference is that each Hunter car is single engine (as opposed to dual-engined on the WDA/WDB/WDC cars), due to the Hunter Line’s lower top speed requirement.
J5 with a Muswellbrook service at Minimbah. (23/7/18)
Photo By: Dean Jones |
J2 at Dungog with a service to Newcastle. (2/10/19)
Photo By: Thomas Bulic |
As with the Endeavour Railcars, each set is formed of two powered driving carriages.
HM: Numbered HM2701 – HM2707. Each HM carriage is capable of seating 77 passengers in reversible and fixed seats.
HMT: Numbered HMT2751 – HMT2757. Features a disabled-accessible toilet and is capable of seating 69 passengers in reversible and fixed seats.
Each carriage is built from stainless steel with steel underframe. The cab area is built as a protective fibreglass cage for impact resistance. Each carriage also features two vestibules (one at either end) accessed via double plug doors operated by the Guard. The trains also feature automatic announcements and interior information displays as well as an external side-mounted destination display on each carriage.
Unlike on the Endeavour Railcars, where the guard’s controls are located within the passenger vestibule, the guard can carry out their duties from the rear cab, accessed by a plug door. Each carriage is fitted with a 6-cylinder turbocharged Cummins QSK-19R diesel engine developing 750 horsepower (similar to that on the Endeavour, XPLorer and WDA/WDB/WDC Railcars). A 150 kW Cummins 6ISBe-G1 diesel engine drives a Newage Stamford UCI274H alternator to supply power for the air conditioning and lighting.
The Hunter Railcars feature Dellner multi-function couplers at the cab (No. 2) end of each carriage, which permits limited compatibility with the Endeavour and (in theory) XPLorer railcars, as well as with other Hunter sets. However, modifications in recent years have removed this compatibility.
Hunter Railcars are capable of 160km/hr but are limited to 145km/hr in regular service.
An option to build a further three sets, plus a longer-distance version for CountryLink, was offered by United Group but not taken up. Had this happened, it is likely the Hunter Line would have become exclusively Hunter Railcar-operated.
HM: Numbered HM2701 – HM2707. Each HM carriage is capable of seating 77 passengers in reversible and fixed seats.
HMT: Numbered HMT2751 – HMT2757. Features a disabled-accessible toilet and is capable of seating 69 passengers in reversible and fixed seats.
Each carriage is built from stainless steel with steel underframe. The cab area is built as a protective fibreglass cage for impact resistance. Each carriage also features two vestibules (one at either end) accessed via double plug doors operated by the Guard. The trains also feature automatic announcements and interior information displays as well as an external side-mounted destination display on each carriage.
Unlike on the Endeavour Railcars, where the guard’s controls are located within the passenger vestibule, the guard can carry out their duties from the rear cab, accessed by a plug door. Each carriage is fitted with a 6-cylinder turbocharged Cummins QSK-19R diesel engine developing 750 horsepower (similar to that on the Endeavour, XPLorer and WDA/WDB/WDC Railcars). A 150 kW Cummins 6ISBe-G1 diesel engine drives a Newage Stamford UCI274H alternator to supply power for the air conditioning and lighting.
The Hunter Railcars feature Dellner multi-function couplers at the cab (No. 2) end of each carriage, which permits limited compatibility with the Endeavour and (in theory) XPLorer railcars, as well as with other Hunter sets. However, modifications in recent years have removed this compatibility.
Hunter Railcars are capable of 160km/hr but are limited to 145km/hr in regular service.
An option to build a further three sets, plus a longer-distance version for CountryLink, was offered by United Group but not taken up. Had this happened, it is likely the Hunter Line would have become exclusively Hunter Railcar-operated.
J4 with a down passenger service at Warabrook. (22/1/19)
Photo By: Thomas Bulic |
J5 at Waratah with a Newcastle Interchange service. (8/12/18)
Photo By: Duck Wilson |
In Service
The first Hunter set, J1 (HM2707/ HMT2751), entered revenue service with CityRail on 23rd November 2006. The remaining six sets entered service over the following nine months, ending with J7 (HM2707/ HMT2757) in August 2007.
All seven sets passed to NSW Trainlink upon its formation in 2013. In 2014/15 the Hunter Railcars received a refurbishment consisting of improved toilet facilities, refurbished seats, anti-graffiti interior paint and NSW Trainlink exterior vinyls.
As of July 2020, the Hunter Railcars work express and all-stations Hunter Line services between Newcastle Interchange and Maitland, Telarah, Dungog, Singleton, Muswellbrook and Scone, traversing the Main North, North Coast and Newcastle Lines. These services ran from Newcastle Station until it closed on 25/12/14. All seven sets are based at Broadmeadow Maintenance Centre alongside two periodically swapped Endeavour sets.
All services are operated as two-carriage sets. A select few peak-hour trains were previously operated as four-carriage sets but this did not extend past 2013.
The first Hunter set, J1 (HM2707/ HMT2751), entered revenue service with CityRail on 23rd November 2006. The remaining six sets entered service over the following nine months, ending with J7 (HM2707/ HMT2757) in August 2007.
All seven sets passed to NSW Trainlink upon its formation in 2013. In 2014/15 the Hunter Railcars received a refurbishment consisting of improved toilet facilities, refurbished seats, anti-graffiti interior paint and NSW Trainlink exterior vinyls.
As of July 2020, the Hunter Railcars work express and all-stations Hunter Line services between Newcastle Interchange and Maitland, Telarah, Dungog, Singleton, Muswellbrook and Scone, traversing the Main North, North Coast and Newcastle Lines. These services ran from Newcastle Station until it closed on 25/12/14. All seven sets are based at Broadmeadow Maintenance Centre alongside two periodically swapped Endeavour sets.
All services are operated as two-carriage sets. A select few peak-hour trains were previously operated as four-carriage sets but this did not extend past 2013.
Fleet Status
Road No.J1/ HM2701
J2/ HM2702 J3/ HM2703 J4/ HM2704 J5/ HM2705 J6/ HM2706 J7/ HM2707 |
LiveryNSW Trainlink
NSW Trainlink NSW Trainlink NSW Trainlink NSW Trainlink NSW Trainlink NSW Trainlink |
OwnerNSW Trainlink
NSW Trainlink NSW Trainlink NSW Trainlink NSW Trainlink NSW Trainlink NSW Trainlink |
Begun ServiceNov 2006
Dec 2006 Dec 2006 Dec 2006 Jun 2007 Jun 2007 Aug 2007 |
Current StateOperational
Operational Operational Operational Operational Operational Operational |
Liveries
The original Hunter Railcar livery was similar to that used on the OSCAR sets also introduced by CityRail in 2006. It included a blue and yellow front, yellow doors, black skirts and a black window band, with the CityRail name and logo positioned adjacent to the cab-end vestibule doors. The carriage number was printed on the bottom of each cab.
In mid-2014, J7 (HM2707/ HMT2757) appeared in the NSW Trainlink livery. The black skirts and yellow doors were retained, but the blue and yellow front was replaced with orange and yellow, with a curved orange flash around the cab sides and an orange window band. The NSW Trainlink logos were printed between the cab and front vestibule doors and below the windscreen on each carriage, with the front carriage number relocated to above the windscreen. By mid-2015, all seven sets received this livery, which unlike the first, was applied with vinyls rather than paint.
The original Hunter Railcar livery was similar to that used on the OSCAR sets also introduced by CityRail in 2006. It included a blue and yellow front, yellow doors, black skirts and a black window band, with the CityRail name and logo positioned adjacent to the cab-end vestibule doors. The carriage number was printed on the bottom of each cab.
In mid-2014, J7 (HM2707/ HMT2757) appeared in the NSW Trainlink livery. The black skirts and yellow doors were retained, but the blue and yellow front was replaced with orange and yellow, with a curved orange flash around the cab sides and an orange window band. The NSW Trainlink logos were printed between the cab and front vestibule doors and below the windscreen on each carriage, with the front carriage number relocated to above the windscreen. By mid-2015, all seven sets received this livery, which unlike the first, was applied with vinyls rather than paint.
All information sourced from Wikipedia and the Rail Motor Society