New South Wales Endeavour railcar


The Endeavour is a diesel multiple unit train operated by NSW TrainLink on passenger rail services in New South Wales, Australia on the Hunter Valley, Main Western, Southern Highlands and Illawarra lines. They are mechanically identical to the Xplorers. All 30 carriages were built by ABB Transportation in Dandenong, Victoria.
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. In November 1994 one further two-carriage set was ordered. All are scheduled to be replaced in the early 2020s by the NSW TrainLink Regional Train Project.

Features

Each set consists of two carriages, one having a wheelchair-accessible toilet, and the other having luggage space and bicycles racks. 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 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 Cummins LT10R diesel engine drives a Newage Stamford UCI274F alternator to supply power for the air conditioning and lighting.
The maximum speed of Endeavour railcars is 160 km/h but in service this is limited to 145 km/h.

In service

Endeavours operate on four lines:
Endeavours previously operated weekend only Wollongong to Moss Vale services.
livery after first refurbishment

Refurbishment

In 2009-2010, the Endeavours, along with the Xplorers, were refurbished by Bombardier Transportation in Dandenong. The refurbishment included:
In 2017, the Endeavours were refurbished by Downer in Cardiff. The refurbishment includes:
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.