Twelve 2000 powercars and eighteen 2100 class trailer cars were built.[2] The bodyshells were built by Comeng in Granville. Two (2001 and 2101) were completed at Granville while the remainder were railed to Adelaide via Lithgow and Broken Hill to comply with a contractual requirement to maximise local content, the fit out being conducted by Comeng's Aresco subsidiary at Dry Creek.[3][4] The first delivery took place in late October 1979 and entered service on 22 February 1980. Delivery of the trains continued until August 1981.[5][6]
The powercars were originally powered by V12 turbocharged MAN D3650 engines that were replaced by two turbocharged 6 cylinder Cummins engines under the floor driving a Voith hydraulic transmission in the late 1980s.[9][10] They usually operated in 2-car (power-trailer) or 3-car (trailer-power-trailer) configurations. It was originally intended that they primarily operate express services on the Gawler and Noarlunga Centre lines with the existing Redhens operating the all stops services, but they quickly ended up operating services across the network.[1][6]
Six were stored for a number of years, being returned to traffic in 2007.[11][12] One was sent to Bombardier Transportation's Dandenong factory in 2006 to assess the feasibility of a life extension program, but it was deemed not worthwhile.[13] They did on occasions venture beyond the Adelaide metropolitan area, operating special services to Tanunda and Nuriootpa on the Barossa Valley line,[14][15] however these excursions ended in April 2003.
From 23 February 2014, these railcars were no longer permitted to operate on the Belair, Tonsley (now Flinders) and Seaford lines due to low clearances as a result of the electrification of these lines, being restricted to the Gawler Central, Grange and Outer Harbor lines. Withdrawals commenced in late 2014. By 2015 only 11 cars were still in service and only operated peak hour express services and special event extra services such as Adelaide Oval event trains on the Gawler Central line and occasionally on the Outer Harbor line. The remaining fleet members was retired in August 2015 after running services between Gawler Central and Adelaide and were stored at the Dry Creek Railcar depot for 10 months before removal.
Preservation
Four have been preserved, however are not operational:[13]
