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The Xplorer is a class of diesel multiple unit trains built by
ABB ABB Ltd. is a Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to create ...
Transportation. Initially entering service in October 1993, the Xplorers are mechanically identical to the Endeavour Railcars, though feature a higher level of passenger amenity. All 23 carriages were built in
Dandenong, Victoria Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainly ...
. The Xplorers currently operate under NSW TrainLink, running on the regional Main North, Main Western and Main Southern lines throughout New South Wales.


History

Following the election of the Greiner Government in March 1988, consulting firm
Booz Allen Hamilton Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (informally Booz Allen) is the parent of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., an American management and information technology consulting firm, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in Greater Washington, D.C., with 8 ...
was commissioned to prepare a report into NSW rail services. On purely economic grounds, the report recommended closing all country passenger services as they were judged unviable, however this was not politically acceptable. If services were to be maintained, the report recommended an 'all XPT' option supported by an expanded coach network. This option was taken up by the government and a new timetable introduced in February 1990. One of the casualties was the ''
Northern Tablelands Express The Northern Tablelands Express is a passenger train service in Australia operated by the New South Wales Government Railways and its successors since June 1941. History The ''Northern Tablelands Express'' has operated from Sydney via the Main ...
'' from Sydney to
Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. I ...
which was operated on alternate days by a locomotive hauled HUB/ RUB set and XPT. This was truncated back to Tamworth allowing it to be operated by one XPT as a day return service. A road coach from Sydney to Armidale was introduced. Another service to be replaced by coach was the
Werris Creek Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line to Armidale and Moree. At the 2011 census, Werris Creek had ...
to Moree connecting service that was operated by a DEB set.After suffering a number of losses in northern NSW electorates where services were cut during the March 1990 Federal Election, the National Party decided a policy reversal was needed. In June 1990, the government announced that it would purchase 17 Xplorer carriages to reintroduce services to Armidale and Moree and replace locomotive hauled stock and coaches on services to
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ...
. This would release an XPT to operate a daily service to Grafton. The Xplorers entered service on the North Western service in October 1993 and on the Canberra service in December 1993. In November 1994, the government ordered a further four Xplorer carriages. From May 2000, Xplorers took over the weekly services to Griffith and
Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It i ...
. All are scheduled to be replaced by the
NSW TrainLink Regional Train Project The NSW TrainLink Regional Train Project is an initiative of Transport for NSW to procure new bi-mode CAF Civity trains to replace NSW TrainLink's Endeavour, Xplorer and XPT fleets. History In the lead up to the 2015 state election, the ...
. A contract with CAF was signed in February 2019, with the Xplorers to be replaced from 2023.


Service

The Xplorers currently operate on these services out of Sydney: *
Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. I ...
and Moree: the '' Armidale/Moree Xplorer'' daily service runs along the Main North line to
Werris Creek Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line to Armidale and Moree. At the 2011 census, Werris Creek had ...
where the train divides. One portion continues on the Main North line and proceeds to Armidale, while the other transfers onto the
Mungindi Mungindi is a town and locality on the border of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland, Australia. The town is within Moree Plains Shire in New South Wales. Within Queensland, the locality is split between the Shire of Balonne (the western par ...
line to Moree. The Armidale portion normally consists of three carriages and the Moree portion two. During times of high demand these can be built up to four and three carriages respectively. *
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ...
:Southern timetable
NSW TrainLink
3 services each direction per day, running along the Main Southern and
Bombala Bombala is a town in the Monaro region of south-eastern New South Wales, Australia, in Snowy Monaro Regional Council. It is approximately south of the state capital, Sydney, and south of the town of Cooma. The name derives from an Aborigina ...
lines. Normally operated by a three carriage set but during times of high demand these can be built up to four. * Griffith: service is attached to a Canberra Xplorer service until
Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent ...
on Saturdays and Wednesdays only, and operates to Griffith via the Main Southern,
Hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated ...
and Yanco-Griffith lines. Service returns on Sundays joining an Xplorer from Canberra at Goulburn although on occasions when either train runs late, each will run separately to Sydney. Normally operated by two or three carriages. *
Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It i ...
: the ''
Outback Xplorer The Outback Xplorer is an Australian passenger train service operated by NSW TrainLink between Sydney and Broken Hill via the Main Western line. Commencing in March 1996, it was initially a locomotive-pulled service. It ceased in 2000 due to the ...
'' service runs along the Main Western and
Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It i ...
lines to Broken Hill. Outbound service operates Monday, returning Tuesday. Normally operated by three carriages.


Carriages

Coding for the carriages are as follows: * EA First Class Driving Power Car: First Class seating, Buffet and Satellite Telephone. Capacity 42 passengers. * EB Economy Class Intermediate Power Car: Economy Class seating and Toilet. Capacity 66 Passengers. * EC Economy Class Driving Power Car: Economy Class seating, Disabled toilet with baby change facilities, wheelchair space and booked Luggage space. Capacity 38 passengers. Carriage numbering is as follows: * EA 2501-2508 * EB 2511-2517 * EC 2521-2528 EA 2508 and EC 2528 used to be Endeavour railcars LE 2815 and TE 2865. They became available following the electrification of the
South Coast line The South Coast Line is an intercity rail service operated by NSW TrainLink that services the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The service runs from , and runs the entire length of the eponymous South Coast railway line to . Th ...
from
Dapto Dapto is a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the western side of Lake Illawarra and covering an area 7.15 square kilometres in size. As at the , the suburb had a population of 10,730. History ...
to
Kiama Kiama () is a coastal town 120 kilometres south of Sydney in the Illawarra. One of the main tourist attractions is the Kiama Blowhole. Kiama features several popular surfing beaches and caravan parks, and numerous alfresco cafes and restaurants ...
, and were converted to Xplorers by
Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industr ...
,
Dandenong Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainl ...
. The conversion of these two vehicles enabled the reintroduction of a rail service to Broken Hill as the ''
Outback Xplorer The Outback Xplorer is an Australian passenger train service operated by NSW TrainLink between Sydney and Broken Hill via the Main Western line. Commencing in March 1996, it was initially a locomotive-pulled service. It ceased in 2000 due to the ...
'', originally known as the Silver City Xplorer. Each car is powered by a
Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, filtration, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipment, including fuel systems, controls, air ...
KTA-19R diesel engine rated at 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. This traction package gives the Xplorer a maximum speed of but in service this is limited to . An auxiliary Cummins LT10R(G) diesel engine drives a Newage Stamford UCI274F alternator to supply power for the air conditioning and lighting.


Refurbishment

In October 2006, RailCorp issued a tender for the refurbishment of the Xplorer and Endeavour railcars. The contract specified new seating, buffet upgrades, new carpets, toilet upgrades, DVA upgrades, extended booked luggage section, and more wheelchair spaces for the trains.
Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industr ...
,
Downer Rail Downer Rail is a business unit within the Downer Group. As well as manufacturing and maintaining railway rolling stock it holds maintenance contracts to maintain rail infrastructure. The head office is located in North Ryde. History The ED ...
and United Group Rail responded, with Bombardier being the successful bidder. All units were repainted into new CountryLink colours. The refurbishment started in mid-2007 and concluded at the end of 2008. After the creation of NSW TrainLink, the CountryLink branding was removed from the trains.


References

{{NSWLocos, state=collapsed ABB multiple units CountryLink Diesel multiple units of New South Wales NSW TrainLink Train-related introductions in 1993