#3437
New South Wales U set
🇦🇺 Australia ·built by Commonwealth Engineering· from 1958· class of electric multiple unit operating in New South Wales, Australia
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1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Set U2 at an unknown date (cropped): NSW Archives· Public domain
what is it?
The U sets are a class of electric multiple unit (EMU) that were operated by the New South Wales Government Railways and its successors between September 1958 and November 1996. They were colloquially nicknamed "U boats" after the German submarine of the same name.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 68 years ago, in 1958.
- Weighs about as much as 8 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 20.6 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 38 years (1958–1996).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 1958
- in service from
- 1958
- retired
- 1996
- status
- retired
- number built
- 40
- kind
- Electric Multiple Unit
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- builders
- Commonwealth Engineering
- operators
- New South Wales Government Railways, New South Wales Public Transport Commission, State Rail Authority of New South Wales, CityRail
- top speed
- 113 km/h
- power
- —
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 1,500 V DC catenary
- formation
- 4 car sets (6, 8 and 10 Car sets in peak hours)
- length
- 20.6 m
- weight
- 49.8 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q5122984, Wikipedia: New South Wales U set (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.