Following on from the successful introduction of the APT in replacing the larger and longer range locomotive hauled passenger trains such as the Southern Aurora, the Intercapital Daylight, the Brisbane Limited and the Gold Coast Motor Rail, the NSWGR looked for the replacement of smaller, less patronising locomotive hauled passenger trains such as those to Northern Tablelands, to Grafton, to Broken Hill and other regional centres. In 1992 it placed orders with ABB at Dandenong Vic. (Comeng, builder of the XPTs, was bankrupt by now) for 23 Xplorer cars (16 driving power cars and 7 intermediate power cars) and these were delivered in the period of 1993-95.
NSWGR, under political pressure, was also looking for self-propelled rolling stock to provide improved services to low patronage regional areas and to cater for shorter non-electrified routes. In 1993 it placed an order with ABB resulting in 30 Endeavour cars being delivered in the period 1994-97. The Xplorers and Endeavours are virtually identical mechanically, a Cummins 383kw diesel engine providing the traction power to one bogie via a Voith hydraulic transmission and Voith final drives. A smaller Cummins 150kw diesel drives an alternator to provide electrical power for air conditioning and other needs.
Interior wise the Xplorers feature a higher level of passenger amenities needed for longer distance travel. The Xplorers operate from Sydney Central to Armidale, Moree, Canberra, Griffith, Grafton, Casino and Broken Hill. The Endeavours operate Sydney Central to Bathrust on the Main West Line, on the Southern Highlands between Goulburn - Moss Vale - Campbelltown, on the South Coast Line between Kiama and Bomaderry and in the Hunter Valley between Newcastle Interchange and destinations of Maitland, Telarah, Dungog and Scone.
In 2002 orders were placed with Goninans at Broadmeadow NSW (now UGL) for 14 Hunter cars to replace aging 700/600 railcars used on Newcastle local services. The Hunter cars feature a Cummins 559kw engine for traction via a Voith hydraulic transmission to Voith final drives on one of the bogies and also have a Cummins 150kw diesel to provide electrical power for air conditioning. Their passenger amenities are set up more like those of the Endeavours and they primarily operate between Newcastle Interchange and Scone/Dungog.
Xplorer, Endeavour and Hunter railcar sets (and the XPTs which has been separately covered in the presentation Comeng’s XPT) all passed from CityRail to CountryLink and ultimately to NSW TrainLink. All have undergone major interior upgrades during their service life. Xplorers, Endeavours and XPTs are all up for replacement in the early 2020s under the NSW Government's TrainLink Regional Trains Project.
Approximate run time: 105 minutes.