No more purple seats: Mountains commuters finally get their new trains

New intercity trains are expected to start passenger services on the Blue Mountains rail line in October after a five-year delay to their operation caused by expensive modifications to the $4 billion fleet.

The rollout of the new Mariyung trains on the South Coast line between Sydney and the Illawarra is also scheduled to begin in the second quarter of next year. The exact date will depend on timetable changes.

New Mariyung trains are expected to start operating on the Blue Mountains line in October.Credit: Oscar Colman

Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said it was aiming to start operating Mariyung trains on the Blue Mountains line in October. The last of the V-set trains, which have been running on it for decades, are likely to be retired sometime between Easter and mid-2026.

Last month, Mariyung trains fully replaced V-sets on the intercity line between Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle, more than five decades after the stainless-steel carriages began operating.

One of the challenges of the Mariyung trains when they are operated as 10-carriage sets is that they are too long for many station platforms such as those at Epping and Berowra. Of the 19 new trains on the Newcastle line, 13 are 10-carriage trains and six are eight-carriage sets.

The decision to operate 10-carriage trains was made a decade ago. The new trains’ wider aisles, two-by-two seating, and more space for baggage and bike storage meant they needed to be longer to carry about the same number of passengers as older trains.

Passengers onboard a new Mariyung train operating between Newcastle and Sydney.Credit: Dean Sewell

Longland said a mix of eight and 10-car Mariyung trains was likely to operate on the Blue Mountains and South Coast lines, while platforms had been extended at some larger stations in recent years to accommodate longer trains.

“It won’t be possible, certainly in the short term, to extend every platform to 10 cars. We’ll utilise the technology on board the train,” he said.

Track technology and sensors on the new trains mean that they know which station they are arriving at and how long platforms are. As a result, carriages are automatically allocated to platforms.

“It’s a network that’s not designed for 10-carriage platforms at every station, but the technology is onboard the train. The technology around selective door opening allows us to have a safe operation at all stations regardless of the length of platform,” Longland said.

The decades-old V-set trains are arguably best known by commuters for their purple-coloured seats.Credit: Sam Mooy

Blacktown, Linden, Leura and Hazelbrook are among stations on the Blue Mountains line where platforms are not long enough for 10-carriage trains. On the South Coast line, Hurstville, Sutherland, Helensburgh, Otford, Stanwell Park, Coalcliff, Scarborough and Bulli are among those which cannot fit an entire 10-carriage train, government data shows.

For years, passengers travelling on eight-car V-sets and Oscar trains have had to move carriages to get off at short platforms.

Like those on the Sydney-Newcastle line, Blue Mountains and South Coast rail commuters will have to forgo reversible seats on the old V-set trains for fixed seating on the new Mariyungs, meaning many will face backwards on their journeys.

The last of the V-set passenger trains is due to be retired in the second quarter of next year.Credit: Oscar Colman

However, the new double-decker Mariyung trains have more legroom, high seat backs, tray tables for laptops, charging ports for mobile devices and extra space for baggage and bikes. Mariyung is the Darug word for emu.

Sydney Trains plans to transfer two V-set trains in their original “blue goose” livery to Transport Heritage NSW when the last is retired from service next year. “[There is] a lot of nostalgia. The Blue Mountains has been exclusively V-sets for a long time,” Longland said.

Most of the V-set trains will be turned into scrap metal once parts that can be reused are removed.

Under original plans, the Mariyung trains were to start services on lines from Sydney to the Central Coast and Newcastle in late 2019, and to the Blue Mountains and Lithgow the following year.

The new fleet became the centre of a long-running dispute between the previous Coalition state government and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union several years ago.

The stand-off was settled in late 2022 when the then-government agreed to union demands to modify the trains to allow guards to monitor passengers getting on and off at stations. It included modifications to cameras, screens and emergency doors.

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