Old trains, delays and timetable risks: The truth about Sydney’s strained rail network

Sydney’s stretched passenger rail network faces challenges from replacing old trains, protracted delays to technology upgrades, workforce gaps and risks from rolling out a new timetable in the next few months to incorporate a $21 billion metro line into the system.

A final report from a review commissioned by the Minns government into repeated failures across the city’s rail network has found the performance of the train fleet is still below target due to delays to technology upgrades and new multibillion-dollar intercity and regional trains.

A new rail timetable looms as one of the major challenges for Sydney’s train network.Credit: Kate Geraghty

It warns that many projects to improve Sydney Trains overlap with the rollout of new timetables this year and next, digital system replacements and the introduction into service of the problem-plagued intercity and regional train fleets purchased by the previous Coalition government.

“The projects pose significant risk and will fully test the capacity of both Sydney Trains and Transport for NSW to manage and deliver major projects safely and on time and budget,” it said.

A new rail timetable will be introduced within the next few months, shortly before the main section of the Metro City and Southwest line opens, followed by another in 2025.

The rollout of a new rail timetable for Sydney’s rail network in 2017 led to widespread cancellations and delays to services in the months after it began.

The wide-ranging review led by National Transport Commission chair Carolyn Walsh recommends a “fleet support strategy” to resolve poor performances, which the government is exploring. The decades-old Tangara train fleet has had the most acute maintenance problems.

Walsh said it was vital that new timetables, the refit of the Tangara trains, the replacement of a digital train radio system and other projects were rolled out smoothly to “max out the capacity of the railway” and avoid passenger overcrowding and budget increases.

The introduction of the new intercity fleet from the second half of this year will allow the progressive retirement of the oldest K and V-set trains.

Walsh said one of the key recommendations was changes to rostering of infrastructure workers to ensure more train engineering could happen at night, as well as investments in equipment.

Sydney’s major train stations were flooded with commuters in March last year when the system’s digital radios went down.Credit: Brook Mitchell, Sam Mooy, Wolter Peeters

“It shouldn’t be looked at as a cost-cutting exercise from a labour point of view but getting more work done. This should involve very close and constructive consultation and engagement with the workforce and the unions,” she said.

The final report found Sydney Trains has high vacancy rates in critical positions and an ageing workforce. Almost 30 per cent of staff in the critical engineering and maintenance branch are over 55.

The performance of the state’s rail fleet also remains below targets for reliability and availability.

It has been blamed on maintenance capacity, repair or replacement of old trains, systems problems with the Tangara and Millennium fleets and the rollout of new intercity and regional trains.

Half of train delays and cancellations have been due to a failure of fixed infrastructure, while shorter interruptions are blamed on rail operations, train crewing and fleet.

The review has recommended that programs to upgrade critical systems in both the Tangara and Millennium fleets should be reviewed to ensure they are given priority and resourcing.

The final report, which lists 69 recommendations, says data indicates that safety performance has generally improved over the last five years, although performance has recently levelled out or started to decline in some areas.

The government began a $97 million rail repair plan in the middle of last year after an interim review warned delays and cancellations to trains on the rail network would worsen without a maintenance blitz to recover from a surging backlog in defects.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said the rail review had brought to light some key factors that had led to delays and disruption for passengers. “There will never be a quick or easy fix, and these changes won’t happen overnight, but this is a crucial evolution that will gradually modernise our network,” she said.

Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said some recommendations required major investment over the next decade. “We look forward to developing detailed proposals for the government’s consideration,” he said.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.