The problems besetting the V-set trains,which were built in the 1970s,illustrate the pressure on the state’s ageing rail fleet,and the ripple effect of a five-year delay to the introduction into service of new Korean-built intercity trains which were purchased to replace them.
A V-set train travels through the Blue Mountains in winter.Dean Sewell
TheHerald has seen documents showing that multiple V-set trains have been pulled from service and sent to yards at Flemington for “corrective maintenance”.
Four services a day have been cancelled across the Blue Mountains,and Central Coast and Newcastle lines over the past six weeks.
A Sydney Trains assessment found that the number of V-set trains requiring essential maintenance over the past two months would exceed the number for the operator to run a full timetable on the lines.
The V-set trains are identifiable to passengers by “Intercity” appearing on the driver’s cabin against an orange background.
The retirement of the V-set passenger trains has been delayed by the late arrival of Korean-built intercity trains.Edwina Pickles
Sydney Trains said in a statement that temporary timetable changes were made to a small number of services on the two intercity lines due to essential fleet maintenance. Services were initially adjusted on March 19,and all services were due to be reinstated by the weekend.
The operator said 32 wheel sets and eight bogies had been changed over the past six weeks,and the wheel lathe at the Flemington maintenance centre was running 24/7 to ensure the V-set wheels remained in the correct specification.
“There are currently three V-sets being held in maintenance due to wheel wear,” it said. “Sydney Trains does not anticipate any more V-set trains having to be removed from service.”
Sydney Trains said it averaged four eight-car V-set trains out of service for wheel maintenance over the past six weeks,in addition to “rolling preventative and corrective maintenance” on the rest of the 25-strong fleet.
A from a review commissioned by the Minns government into repeated failures across Sydney’s rail network found the reliability of the state’s passenger trains remained below targets,partly due to the age of the fleet.
The five-year delay to the rollout of the new $3.2 billion intercity fleet has delayed the retirement of the V-set trains,and the transition of Oscar trains to Sydney’s suburban lines.
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