 The first test run of the railcar was to Sandy Knolls, from Addington, and subsequent trials meant the railcar covered a distance of more than .The railcar successfully operated at a speed of , with its top attained speed approximately , but problems and faults became manifest over the trial period.The most notable problem was that the engine tended to overheat, and this combined with other flaws meant that the project became uneconomic and was abandoned before A 88 entered regular passenger service.