A crew car (also known as a relay van) is a passenger carriage specially fitted out for the use of train drivers. Interior fittings include a sleeping compartment for each crew member, a lounge area, a kitchen, a bathroom, and laundry. They are usually provided with an onboard generator system and air conditioning. The practice is also known as Relay Working.
They are used mainly on long-distance Intermodal freight trains in Australia and Grain trains that travel with two crews, who alternate crewing the train on duty / off duty during the journey. The car is usually marshalled directly or a few carriages behind the locomotives. Most crew cars have been converted from older SAR, VR and NSWGR passenger cars or depowered SAR Bluebird Railcars. [1]
Major Australian users of crew cars include One Rail Australia, Aurizon, Pacific National, and SCT Logistics, predominantly found on routes between Adelaide, Darwin and Perth. In 2023, Aurizon commenced relay work in Victoria on Intermodal services to Perth using Adelaide based drivers.
A railroad car, railcar, railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck, also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a vehicle used for the carrying of cargo or passengers on a rail transport network. Such cars, when coupled together and hauled by one or more locomotives, form a train. Alternatively, some passenger cars are self-propelled in which case they may be either single railcars or make up multiple units.
The Adelaide–Darwin rail corridor consists of the 2975-kilometre (1849-mile) long 1435 mm standard-gauge main line between the South Australian capital city of Adelaide and the Northern Territory capital of Darwin, and the lines immediately connected to it. Preceded by a number of other shorter railways, a transcontinental line through to Darwin was only fully realised in 2004, when the final link from Alice Springs was opened. The line is used by interstate freight trains operated by Aurizon and by The Ghan passenger train operated by Journey Beyond.
A passenger railroad car or passenger car, also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach, or passenger bogie is a railroad car that is designed to carry passengers. The term passenger car can also be associated with a sleeping car, a baggage car, a dining car, railway post office and prisoner transport cars.
The Glenbrook rail accident occurred on 2 December 1999 at 8:22 am on a curve east of Glenbrook railway station on the CityRail network between Glenbrook and Lapstone, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. Seven passengers were killed and 51 passengers were taken to hospital with injuries when a CityRail electric interurban train collided with the rear wagon of the long-haul Perth-to-Sydney Indian Pacific.
The Overland is an interstate passenger train service in Australia, travelling between the state capitals of Melbourne and Adelaide, a distance of 828 km (515 mi). It first ran in 1887 as the Adelaide Express, known by South Australians as the Melbourne Express. It was given its current name in 1936. Now operated by private company Journey Beyond, the train undertakes two return trips a week. Originally an overnight train that stopped at large intermediate stations, it now operates during the day, stopping less frequently.
The K sets are a class of electric multiple units that currently operate on the Sydney Trains network. Built by A Goninan & Co, the K sets first entered service in 1981 operating under the State Rail Authority, and later CityRail. The carriages are of stainless steel, double deck construction and share much of their design with the older S sets. All of the 40 K sets originally built remain in service and are currently the oldest in the Sydney Trains fleet.
The 422 class are a class of diesel locomotives built by Clyde Engineering, Granville for the Department of Railways New South Wales in 1969/70.
The S type carriages are a corridor-type passenger carriage used on the railways of Victoria, Australia. The first carriages were constructed by the Victorian Railways in 1937 for use on the Spirit of Progress, with additional carriages built for other trains until the mid-1950s.
The GT46C-ACe is a model of Australian diesel-electric locomotive designed and built between 2007–present by Downer Rail at its Cardiff Locomotive Workshops using Electro-Motive Diesel components until 2014, with later units built in Muncie, Indiana.
The Victorian Railways' (VR) Royal Trains operated to transport members of the royal family on their numerous tours of Australia on the Victorian rail network. The same carriages were also used for a number of vice-regal trains for the governor-general of Australia and the governor of Victoria. The last Royal Train ran in 1988.
This article lists some of the terminology used at present and in the past by railway employees, railway enthusiasts and railway historians in Australia. Many appear from time to time in specialist, rail-related publications. Significant regional variations exist, indicated by abbreviations of the state or railway.
The Bluebird railcars were a class of self-propelled diesel-hydraulic railcar built by the South Australian Railways' Islington Railway Workshops between 1954 and 1959.
The New South Wales stainless steel carriage stock was a type of passenger carriage operated by the New South Wales Government Railways from 1961 until 1993.
This article is intended as a catalogue of sleeping carriages used by the Victorian Railways and successors.
Between 1936 and 1942, South Australian Railways built 36 steel carriages at its Islington Railway Workshops. All were painted cream and green being repainted maroon and silver in the 1960s. Aside from a few written off after accidents, all passed to Australian National in March 1978.
The first carriages built specifically for The Overland train service operated by the Victorian and South Australian Railways (V & SAR) were introduced in 1949. By the end of 1951, eight new sleeping cars and six new sitting cars had entered service. Additions to the fleet continued until 1972; in all, 44 carriages were built. About eight were still in service in March 2020 on The Overland operated by Journey Beyond. Other carriages have been transferred to different services or sold.
V&SAR Intercolonial Express Carriages were carriages on a new train called the Intercolonial Express running on Victorian Railways and South Australian Railways in 1887. The track of two railways met on Wednesday 19 January 1887. The Victorian Railways' Western Line to Dimboola, and the South Australian Railways' Wolseley line, met at Serviceton. Since both sides shared the broad gauge of 5'3", an agreement was made between the two railways allowing a pool of carriages, classed O, to be specifically allocated to interstate trains linking the capitals of Melbourne and Adelaide. The operating and maintenance cost of the new train would be funded by both railways, approximately 60% paid for by the Victorian Railways and 40% by the South Australian Railways.
This article describes the nine airconditioned sitting cars and fourteen brake vans that were built by the South Australian Railways at Islington Workshops between 1964 and 1967. All were distinguished by fluted stainless steel panels on their sides, compatible with the appearance of cars introduced to The Overland in 1950.
The E type carriages were wooden express passenger carriage used on the railways of Victoria, Australia. Originally introduced by Victorian Railways Chairman of Commissioners Thomas James Tait for the interstate service between Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, these Canadian-inspired carriages remained in regular service for 85 years over the entire Victorian network.