The V sets are a type of double-decker electric multiple units (EMU) that operated on the intercity network surrounding Sydney in New South Wales, Australia from 1970 up until 2026. Built by Comeng between 1970 and 1989 and first delivered under the Department of Railways, the sets are of stainless steel construction.
During its time in service, the V sets primarily operated along the Blue Mountains and Central Coast lines, and have travelled approximately in total.
History
Orders and contracts The V sets were delivered over a 19-year period from 1970.
Series 1 NSWGR Contract 8/68 – Comeng contract 68/11 – specification 2384 – entered service 1970 DCF8001 – DCF8008 (8) DDC9001 – DDC9004 (4) DTF9011 – DTF9012 (2) DTC9021 – DTC9022 (2)
Series 2 NSWGR Contract 2/76 – Comeng contract 76/3 – specification 2505 – entered service 1977 Oerlikon brake valves. Sigma Blue Light air conditioning. No crew air conditioning. Low dashboard. Coloured fault lights. Mesh Resistor covering on roof. DCM8021 – DCM8036 (16) DCT9031 – DCT9044 (14)
Series 3 NSWGR Contract 3/80 – Comeng contract 79/5 – specification 2505 – entered service 1982 Davies & Metcalf brake valves. Sigma Blue Light air conditioning. No crew air conditioning. Low dashboard. Coloured fault lights. Mesh resistor covering on roof. DIM8037 – DIM8052 (16) DIT9101 – DIT9114 (14)
NSWGR Contract 3/80E – Comeng contract 8007 – specification 2505 Davies & Metcalf brake valves. Sigma Blue Light air conditioning. No Crew air conditioning. Low dashboard. Coloured Fault Lights. Mesh Resistor covering on roof. DIM8053 – DIM8068 (16)
Series 4 NSWGR Contract 7/82 – Comeng contract 8205 – specification 2505 amended Davies & Metcalf brake valves. Sigma Yellow Light air conditioning. Crew air conditioning installed. Low dashboard (High from DIM8090). Text fault lights. Mesh resistor covering on roof. DIM8069 – DIM8092 (24) DIT9115 – DIT9138 (24)
Series 5 A continuation of the contract for Series 4, these cars were fitted with Chopper controls. NSWGR Contract 7/82 – Comeng Contract 8205 – Specification 2505 CH Davies & Metcalf brake valves. Sigma Yellow Light air conditioning. Crew air conditioning installed. High dashboard. Text fault lights. Slatted covering on roof over Chopper equipment. DJM8093 – DJM8108 (16) DIT9139 – DIT9154 (16)
Series 6 NSWGR Contract 3/86 – Comeng contract 8601 Davies & Metcalf brake valves. Sigma Yellow Light air conditioning. Crew air conditioning installed. High dashboard. Text fault lights. Slatted covering on roof over Chopper equipment. DJM8109 – DJM8123 (15) DIT9155 – DIT9169 (15)
Series 7 NSWGR Contract 7/87 – Comeng contract 8701 Davies & Metcalf brake valves. Sigma Yellow Light air conditioning. Crew air conditioning installed. High dashboard. Text fault lights. Mesh covering on roof over Chopper equipment. DJM8124 – DJM8138 (15) DIT9170 – DIT9184 (15)
Series 8 The final series. NSWGR Contract 1/88 – Comeng contract 8801 Davies & Metcalf brake valves. Yellow painted interior. Sigma Yellow Light air conditioning. Crew air conditioning installed. High dashboard. Text fault lights. Mesh covering on roof over Chopper equipment. Power operated vestibule doors (Now all isolated). Wide body side fluting, similar to that used by A Goninan & Co on their S sets. Spring Parking Brake in trailer car (Now all disconnected). Semi-permanently coupled 2 car blocks. These cars feature smoother body panels than the earlier cars. DKM8139 – DKM8145 (7) DKT9185 – DKT9191 (7)
First batch (DCF, DDC, DTF and DTC) In July 1968, the Department of Railways New South Wales placed an order for the first batch 16 cars with Commonwealth Engineering."Rostering Electric Interurban Trains" Railway Digest January 1985 page 2 The first 4 cars debuted on the Sydney to Gosford route on 22 June 1970, targeted as F111."Double-Deck Interurbans in NSW" Railway Digest June 2000 page 49 All 16 cars were in operation by September 1970.
These cars had many similar features to the later-built cars, including the one-piece moulded glass reinforced plastic end in royal blue and grey livery (earning them the Blue Goose nickname), semi-automatic doors, electronically controlled brakes and double-glazed windows. They had a different style of headlight and interior lighting to subsequent builds.
There were: 8 Power Cars – DCF 8001–8008 – Economy Class 4 Driving Trailer Cars – DDC 9001–9004 – 1st Class upper deck, Economy Class other seats 4 Trailer Cars – DTF 9011–9012 – Economy Class; DTC 9021–9022 – 1st Class upper deck, Economy Class other seats
The configuration of these cars was unsuccessful. The cars were fitted with AEI electrical equipments, using similar traction motors to the 1955 electric single deck train stock (U sets and W sets) but with a then brand new "Camshaft controller", for controlling power to the traction motors. The electrical equipments was split between the power and trailer car, the motor-alternator suffered from numerous failures, preventing the air-conditioning system and the air brake compressors from working.
The First Class seats on the upper deck of the DCC and DTC cars were finished in blue (compared to the brown of the other seats), as was the carpet they rested upon. No gangway doors between the exterior doors and passenger compartments were provided, though these were later retrofitted into the trains at an unknown date. The lighting and air conditioning vents were arranged differently compared to later series.
One class travel was introduced in September 1974, so the seating was all economy class. This led to the refurbishment of the DDIU sets with the original luggage racks above the seating in the single deck section being removed. During this time the sets were targeted as U sets, the plates used on the single deck interurbans.
In the early 1980s, it was decided to convert these to trailer cars hence 16 power cars were ordered with no matching trailers. Between March and December 1982 the cars were rewired at Electric Carriage Workshops, and the driver compartments of DDC and DCF cars removed, DCF cars having their crew doors removed and replaced by toilets in the same locations, while left over cab space would be used for luggage or potentially additional seats. The reinforced plastic ends remained, albeit with the blue eventually removed.
The cars were subsequently renumbered: DCF 8001–8008 > DMT 9201–9207 (7 cars remained after writing off DCF 8004) DDC 9001–9004 > DDT 9208–9211 DTF 9011–9012 and DTC 9021–9022 > DFT 9212–9215 In 2005, these sets were withdrawn and scrapped following the discovery of corrosion in the carbon steel under frames. The interaction of the stainless steel bodies and the carbon steel underframes caused galvanic corrosion.
Second batch (DCM and DCT)
From October 1977, the second batch began to enter service, with many differences from the first batch. The electrical equipment was all mounted on the power car, using Mitsubishi Electric equipment; they had stainless steel underframes; were fitted with vacuum retention toilets, and had gold as opposed to green tinted windows. These cars were the first of the V sets, which were the two-car equivalent of double deck U sets. These cars operated separately from the 1970 cars, as the two types were not compatible with each other.
The cars built were:
Power Cars DCM 8021–8036 Driving Trailer Cars DCT 9031–9044 The driving trailers were not used that much, due to driver complaints about an uncomfortable "kick" when the power car started to push the trailer. The controls in the DCTs were gradually stripped and used to replace defective controls in the DCMs. In 1990 DCT 9034 was refurbished by CityRail as a lounge car with lounge chairs and a kitchen for use as a charter car named Contura."CityRail launches lounge car" Railway Digest December 1990 page 424 It was not a success, not helped by poor marketing, and it was rebuilt as a conventional trailer (without controls) in 2000 and renumbered DET 9216. During the Citydecker refurbishment carried out by A Goninan & Co in the 1990s, DCT 9031–9036 had their driver controls reinstated and were recoded as DTDs allowing CityRail to introduce The River, a two-car service from Wyong to St Marys. At the same time the DCMs were refurbished, receiving destination indicators and ditchlights. The refurbishment also saw the installation of air-conditioning in the driver's cabs of the DCMs, their lack of air-conditioning had a union ban preventing them being used as leading cars since 1995."A Review of Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) Rolling Stock" Railway Digest March 1995 page 36 DCM 8032–8036 were modified to have wheelchair seating, and recoded as DTMs. The DCMs that had destination indicators eventually had them removed and replaced with a metal blanking plate, after a decision not to use them on Interurban services. Some were withdrawn in 2011, and were scrapped in NovemberOctober 2021.
Third batch (DIM and DIT) From May 1981, DIM Power Cars and DIT trailers started to be delivered. These cars had increased seating compared with the earlier series, up from 88 to 96 for the power cars, and from 100 to 112 for the non-driving trailers. Like earlier cars, these were targeted as U sets, indicating 4-car sets. However, later on, all double decker sets were retargeted as V sets (the V originally used only for 2-car sets) in order to distinguish them from single deck U sets.
The cars built were:
Power Cars – DIM 8037–8092 Trailer Cars – DIT 9101–9184
DIM 8037–8068 and were the last cars to be delivered with the Blue Goose moulded fibreglass ends, cream and wood veneer interiors and green seats.
DIM 8069–8092 were built with a white moulded fibreglass end incorporating the State Rail Authority's corporate colours of red, orange and yellow, yellow interiors, newer air conditioning technology and ditchlights. These can be distinguished from the earlier DIMs by the air-conditioning grille cover.
DJM cars and remaining DIT cars
From 1985, DJM power cars and DIT trailer cars entered service. Technological advances saw a thyristor chopper system fitted to the next batch of power cars, coded DJM. The chopper cars gave a smoother and quieter ride. The chopper cars can be distinguished from the earlier camshaft cars by a large open grille at the pantograph end of the power car, and by different hatch coverings over the driver's side of the power car. DJM 8123–8137 had even larger open grilles on the pantograph end. DJM 8101 had its Candy livery moulded fibreglass end repainted into CityRail blue and yellow in 1990 to form a special set, with the commemorative wording "celebrating 20 years of double-deck intercity services to Gosford" applied near the driver's cab window. In 2009, DJM 8101's front was repainted into standard Intercity livery.
Final batch (DKM and DKT)
The final V sets were introduced in 1989, and they were the last carriages to be built by Comeng's Granville factory.
These cars were coded DKM and DKT and are permanently coupled. There were several changes: the cars were finished in corrugated steel, instead of the previous inserted Budd fluting. Seating had separate seat backs. Instead of the push-pull doors inside the previous V sets, the DKs were fitted with an electronically operated vestibule door, and no doors were installed at the gangway between DKM and DKT cars. The State Rail Authority wanted to order an extra 50 but funding was not available."New Interurban Cars" Railway Digest March 1988 page 83
The V set carriages are notably the largest electric carriages commissioned for the New South Wales railway network with a length of 23 metres and with the trailer cars weighing 40 tonnes, and the power cars weighing a further 61 tonnes at most.
Car Prefix codes The V set cars all start with a 3-letter prefix, these prefixes make up the car code naming system. This system loosely follows a few NSW conventions.