28/09/2026
HPC 402 has just finished another round of inspecting and measuring the size of the overhead wiring in the Sydney metropolitan area. Let’s take a look at how this project began.
TRMS won the annual contract with Sydney Trains on a “wet hire” basis in 2020, with all testing to be done at night. After several months of investigating its feasibility, a frame to mount the pantograph (which weighs over 100 kgs) on 402’s roof was manufactured by Australian Rail Technology (ART). To attach the frame at the No 1 End without damaging the wooden roof, four mounting brackets (two on each side) were mounted to the vehicle’s steel frame just below the roof line.
The frame was powder coated in a light grey tone to match 402’s roof colour. The final installation took place at TRMS depot in Paterson by ART, with the frame being mounted on two longitudinal channels to spread the load on the wooden roof.
402 was transferred to Eveleigh in the early hours of 2 October 2020. Later that morning the pantograph was mounted onto the roof, and a second 240-volt inverter was installed. Over the next five days, Teksol (the local agents for the German measurement technology contractor) supervised the installation of equipment. Infrared cameras were fitted at either end. Various computers, high intensity lights, a compressor and cabling, and the all-important pantograph head (the apparatus that measures the contact wire dimensions) were installed.
The first run occurred in the early hours of Sunday 11 October. Despite being a Sydney Trains Project, Train Control was not aware of the operation, resulting in a 20-minute delay departing from the Eveleigh Gate Road. This was followed by a further 60-minute delay at Hurstville due to an out-of-control backburn in the Royal National Park.
402’s next adventures are runs for Cruise Express in November and Club 402 in March next year.
