The relatively low seating capacity of only 48 (compared to the older toastrack trams) and their inability to operate in service as multiple units went against the class.

[1] Rushcutters Bay was the first depot to be allocated trams, Fort Macquarie followed next, then Waverley, North Sydney and Newtown.

Dowling Street finally received R cars when Fort Macquarie Depot closed in 1955.

Withdrawals commenced in mid-1958 when the North Sydney system closed and these cars went into storage, mainly at Waverley.

[1] Eleven have been preserved: Media related to Sydney R-Class Tram at Wikimedia Commons