Manufacturing delays in South Korea put new NSW intercity train fleet on hold

They were meant to roll out this year to improve travel to Sydney for thousands of long distance commuters, but manufacturing delays have now made that impossible.

• BACKGROUND: New intercity Fleet seats not reversible
• BACKGROUND: Construction to start on Kangy Angy rail facility

Central Coast commuters will not be climbing on board the long-promised new intercity train fleet any time soon after manufacturing delays in South Korea.

The State’s multibillion-dollar fleet of new intercity trains is now not expected to start passenger services between Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle until the first half of next year.

The first of the trains had been expected to arrive in March but this has been pushed out until November or December.

Commuters on the existing train fleet will have to wait a bit longer for the new trains to arrive. Picture: Peter Clark

Add to this an estimated testing period of three to four months there is almost no chance the trains will be up and running by the end of the year.

Central Coast Commuters Association president Eddie Ellis said the delays were disappointing.

“Commuters were particularly looking forward to having more luggage room, which was part of the new design,” he said.

The Berejiklian government ordered an extra 42 carriages for the intercity fleet in February, which increased the total order to 55 new trains and 554 double-deck carriages.

The new trains are now expected in the first half of 2020.

The larger order increased the cost of the government’s contract to build and maintain the trains by $130 million to $2.43 billion.

That figure does not include the cost of the maintenance facility at Kangy Angy.

The new trains will replace the 40-year-old V-set, which are scheduled to be retired by 2022. Their arrival will also free up Oscar trains to be revamped and moved to services on Sydney’s suburban network.

Interior view of the new train design.

Under the original time frame, the new intercity trains were due to begin services on the Blue Mountains line to Mount Victoria by the middle of next year, followed by Lithgow about four months later.

Commuters in the Illawarra will have to wait until 2021 before the intercity trains are scheduled to be pressed into service on the rail link between Sydney and Wollongong and Kiama.

The new trains will have more room for luggage.

Many commuters have mixed feelings about one feature of the new fleet — the non-reversible seats.

Designers chose the fixed seating in a two by two formation because it was considered to be safer and more difficult to vandalise.

“The non reversible seats will still be an issue for many commuters when they do arrive,” Eddie Ellis said.

An artists impression on the rail maintenance facility for the New Intercity Fleet at Kangy Angy.

Meanwhile, building of the controversial $265 million rail maintenance facility at Kangy Angy has also stalled with just a third of the facility completed so far.

The facility — which was vehemently opposed by local residents — will not be in action until next year at the 50 hectare site.

Multiple design changes are understood to have caused this delay.