Sydney Passenger Train Fleet Door Mechanism Upgrade

The mechanism for opening and closing a door of a train is an essential part for the safety of passengers on all trains in the rail fleet. The reliability, performance and functionality of the door system are of critical importance.

So when sections of the train fleet, now in their 25th year, were starting to show wear and tear on the door mechanism – or more specifically the outer telescopic tubes – refurbishment was not viable and total replacement was required.

Chess Engineering won the contract late last year to provide 900 new outer telescopic tubes for the train fleet with delivery of the tubes commencing this month.
The train doors were built differently to other fleets in that the doors push out and slide rather than just slide across. This type of door structure was creating issues for the client as the door mechanism has extremely tight tolerances.

The original equipment manufacturer was not able to respond satisfactorily; Chess, through its accuracy in engineering, was able to meet the exact tolerances. “With more than 40 years of engineering experience, Chess definitely has the expertise to work to these tolerances,” says Michael Wilson, Rail Business Development Manager, Chess Engineering.

A large scale job of this nature involves numerous challenges which only a coordinated and experienced engineering organisation can deliver. “The specification included a precise material for the tubes which could only be found in Europe and sourced through our international relationship with Sandvik in Sweden,” says Michael. Sandvik shipped the tubes to Chess in a raw state and the engineering team in Padstow worked closely together to achieve the drawing dimensions and tolerances.

Advanced material payment was another prerequisite to make the job possible. Sandvik would not accept an order of such a large size unless advance payment for materials was made. “Chess Engineering and our major maintenance partner have a strong business relationship, so making an advance payment for materials was not a problem in order to secure the ongoing working relationship between the two organisations,” says Michael.

The client‟s tight delivery schedule was another challenge to manage given the mill in Sweden required 20 weeks to manufacture the 900 tubes and another 12 weeks to ship them to Australia. “Chess placed the material order promptly at the end of last year to allow for the mill time and shipping lead time. We are beginning delivery of the tubes to the client this month so we are successfully meeting the deadline,” says Michael.

Chess has performed numerous projects for the Sydney passenger fleet over many years, including reverse engineering of gangways.

For further information on Chess’ rail engineering expertise, please contact Michael Wilson on 0447 271 341 or m.wilson@chessindustries.com.au