For a moment, the last passenger service by one of Sydney’s distinctive K-set trains on Friday had been cast into doubt.
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service → cast → doubt
Unruly behaviour and vandalism during “farewell journeys” this week forced the cancellation of trips a day earlier.
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behaviour → force → trips
That uncertainty evaporated on Friday when hundreds lined up to board a silver K-set train at Central Station for the final service bound for Olympic Park after a long loop of the city.
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hundreds → evaporate → city
In charge of the K-set were Sydney Trains’ longest-serving driver, Vince Vassiliou, and most senior guard Pat Breen, each of whom had chalked up 59 years working on the railways.
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each → serve → railways
Vassiliou, 75, who has been driving K-sets for 44 years, was adamant the trains remain as good as they were when they first entered service in October 1981.
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they → drive → October
“They still glide the same – they haven’t changed,” he said.
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he → glide → ?
“[But] we’ve got the newer trains now [and] they’re not needed.”
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they → get → trains
Like his workmate, Breen, 75, is sad to see the K-sets vanish from Sydney’s suburban rail network, having worked on them since they started carrying passengers in the early 1980s.
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they → see → 1980s
“When these trains came out, they were state of the art.
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they → come → art
We had air-conditioning.
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We → have → conditioning
We had headlights on them,” he said.
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he → have → them
“They were fantastic trains to work on when something went wrong because they were simple.
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they → work → ?
So the driver and I could quickly put our hands together, fix it and just take off again.”
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driver → put → it
The last K-set service marks the final chapter of Sydney’s stainless-steel suburban train fleets.
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service → mark → fleets
From the introduction of the first S-set in 1972 to the retirement of the last K-set this week, the silver trains have been a defining feature of the city’s railway for more than half a century.
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trains → define → century
Unlike the silver set trains, he does not intend to retire from the railways just yet, although admits he takes it “month by month”.
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he → intend → month
His daughter has decided to leave nursing and follow him into the railways to become a driver.
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daughter → decide → railways
“Once she comes onto the railways, I can leave this company in her hands, so to speak,” he quipped.
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he → come → hands
Built between 1981 and 1985 at Broadmeadow in Newcastle, the K-sets brought air-conditioned carriages to commuters in Sydney for the first time.
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sets → build → time
Their retirement this week follows the last service by a V-set train – another workhorse of the rail network – in January.
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retirement → follow → January
On board the last passenger service to pull out of Central Station at 10.31am on Friday were 11-year-old Alex McCann and his mum Helena from Engadine in southern Sydney.
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McCann → pull → Sydney
“I’ve liked trains all my life.
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I → like → trains
It’s cool going on old trains just to see how people used to get to work many years ago,” said Alex, who is an aspiring train guard.
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who → go → work
Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said the K-sets had been the pride of the fleet because they were the first to have air-conditioning in their carriages, and later underwent major upgrades ahead of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
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they → say → Olympics
“A screwdriver and a spanner was probably all you needed to fix one of these trains,” he said.
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he → need → trains
“These days, it’s a laptop, and it’s a technical operation, moving from a mechanical system to a digital system.
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it → ’ → system
Longland said the K-sets had become challenging to manage anti-social behaviour recently due to the absence of onboard security cameras.
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sets → say → cameras
Sydney Trains pulled the K-sets from service in June, just before the winter school holidays, due to break-ins into cabs and fears of people climbing onto their exteriors while they were moving.
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they → pull → exteriors
All K-set trains will be turned into scrap metal, but the state government has retained several stainless-steel type models such as V- and S-set trains for heritage reasons.
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government → turn → reasons
Transport Minister John Graham, who was on board the last K-set passenger service, said they were more than a train to many people.
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they → say → people
“For more than 45 years, the K-set has been there for school runs, first jobs, family visits, major events and countless everyday journeys,” he said.
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he → say → runs
Like the V-set trains, the K-sets were kept in service for years longer than planned due to delays to the arrival of new passenger trains.
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sets → keep → trains
The Aporia
