Sydney Trains K set

K Set
K set at Parramatta station in January 2008
Upper deck after Citydecker refurbishment with hopper windows
In service	1981-present
Manufacturer	A Goninan & Co
Built at	Broadmeadow
Constructed	1981-85
Refurbishment	late 1990s
Number built	160 carriages
Number in service	160 carriages
Formation	4-car sets
Fleet numbers	C3501-C3580, D4096-D4099, T4171-T4246
Capacity	106 in power cars, 118 in trailers
Operator(s)	Sydney Trains
Depot(s)	Flemington Hornsby
Line(s) served	T1 North Shore, Northern & Western T2 Airport, Inner West & South T3 Bankstown T5 Cumberland T6 Carlingford T7 Olympic Park
Specifications
Car length	20.39 m (66 ft 11 in)
Width	3.04 m (10 ft 0 in)
Height	4.37 m (14 ft 4 in)
Weight	45 t (44 long tons; 50 short tons)
Traction system	4 x Mitsubishi 150 kW (200 hp)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)

The K sets are an Australian class of electric multiple unit operated by Sydney Trains in New South Wales. The carriages are of stainless steel, double deck construction.

The K sets were the first New South Wales suburban trains to be air conditioned and have headlights.

Two orders were placed for the K sets with all manufactured in 1981–85 by A Goninan & Co, Broadmeadow:

The first order featured low mounted upper deck windows, cream and brown interiors, and unpainted fronts. The second order featured higher mounted upper deck windows, yellow and mustard interiors and State Rail Authority candy livery fronts.

The first four trailers were built as driving trailers allowing them to operate in two-car formation, although in practice they were formed into four carriage sets and often ran together as one eight-car set until 1988. These also differed in the subsequent deliveries in being fitted with air conditioning from new, rather than pressure ventilation. To provide a spare, C3550 & T4216 were also built with air conditioning. All ten carriages were fitted with different windows, being sheet glass with small opening hoppers. This was replaced with sheet glass in 1993.

To accommodate the air conditioning and associated equipment, the pantograph had to be shifted to the adjacent trailer car to which the power car is semi-permanently coupled with high voltage cables connecting the two cars. Although some power cars and trailers have been broken up and married with others during periods of heavy maintenance, many original combinations remain.

All the K sets were delivered to either Hornsby or Punchbowl depots. With the trials on the ten experimental carriages judged successful, in 1986 a programme commenced to retrofit air conditioning to the second order. This saw the Beclawat windows replaced with sheet glass. It would be July 1990 before the programme was completed.

In April 1989, K sets commenced operating peak-hour services via the North Shore line to Gosford. This was extended to Wyong in January 1992. In September 1990, all Punchbowl based sets were transferred to Hornsby.