Railways and Tramways of Australia

New Prospector

 

Western Australia’s new Prospector railcars were inaugurated on 27 June 2004.

 

Introduced to service in 1971, the Prospector consisted of modern diesel multiple unit railcars, running on standard gauge tracks between Perth and Kalgoorlie. It replaced the narrow gauge locomotive-hauled Kalgoorlie Express, reducing travel times from over 14 hours to 7 hours and 45 minutes. At the time of its introduction, the Prospector was the fastest train in Australia, with a maximum speed of 145 km/h.

 

By the late 1990s the Prospector cars were becoming less reliable. New railcars were built by United Goninan at Broadmeadow in New South Wales. The fleet consisted of two two-car sets and a three-car set, which still operate. Each car has two Cummins engines. The theoretical maximum speed is 200 km/h, but in service they operate at up to 160 km/h. Their introduction reduced travel times on the Kalgoorlie run to 6 hours and 45 minutes.

 

The new Prospector cars departed from East Perth Terminal at 7.10 am on their inauguration day on a special run from Perth to Kalgoorlie for invited guests and the media. At Kalgoorlie the train passed through a water arch provided by the local fire brigade.

Western Australian Premier Geoff Gallop launched the new train, noting that it was a way of giving back to the Goldfields region. A family fun day was held. Guests who had arrived on the train later flew back to Perth, while guests from Kalgoorlie joined for the journey to Perth.

 

Regular services of the new Prospector commenced the following day.

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Another two-car set of railcars entered service in 2005 for service on the AvonLink. The carriages are almost identical to those of the Prospector, but the cab moulding on the front of the AvonLink cars is olive green instead of yellow.

  

Bibliography

P Clark, ‘Transwa Prospector and Avon Link stock’, Railway Digest, vol. 43, no. 7, July 2005, pp 22–5.

R Dawes, ‘Prospector’, Railway Digest, vol. 45, no. 2, February 2007, pp 22–4.

A May & B Gray, A history of WAGR passenger carriages, Bill Gray, 2006.

D Whiteford, ‘Transwa’s new PROSPECTOR launched,’ The Westland, no. 255, August 2004, pp 9.