Final price tag for long-delayed intercity passenger trains to top $4 billion

The final cost of NSW’s new intercity passenger train project is set to surpass $4 billion, half a billion higher than the previous estimate, due to the need for upgrades to station platforms and equipment for the long-delayed fleet.

Budget papers show the state government will have spent $3.06 billion on the new fleet by the end of this month, while allocating $974 million for the project over the next four years. It will take the total cost to $4.03 billion.

One of the new intercity trains at Kangy Angy on the Central Coast.Credit: Tom Rabe

The latest forecast is higher than the previous estimate for the project, which was buried in last year’s budget at $3.54 billion, a jump of $660 million. Much of that increased cost had been due to modifications to the Korean-built trains sought by rail unions.

The first of the 72 new intercity trains is due to start carrying passengers in the coming months, more than four years later than originally planned. The new fleet will operate on lines to Newcastle, the Blue Mountains and the South Coast.

A spokesperson for Transport Minister Jo Haylen said existing funding for the state’s so-called “more trains more services” program was now recognised within the budget for the intercity fleet.

“This is not new or additional expenditure. This is existing money in the budget that was always going to be used for enabling works. It has simply been reallocated,” he said.

‘At some point enough is enough, and taxpayers need to stop paying the bill while receiving no services.’

Opposition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward

However, Coalition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said it was a further $500 million cost blowout that was all designed to please the Rail, Tram and Bus Union. “At some point enough is enough, and taxpayers need to stop paying the bill while receiving no services,” she said.

The new intercity fleet was at the centre of a long-running dispute between the previous Coalition government and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union in 2022.

The stand-off was settled in November 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.

The transport minister’s spokesperson said modifications were needed within the rail corridor along the Central Coast and Newcastle, Blue Mountains, and South Coast lines to support the changes made to the intercity train fleet’s operating model. They include upgrades to platforms, train stopping markers and signalling equipment.

Under the original plans, the 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 delayed intercity fleet is separate to the state’s bungled purchase of new Spanish-built trains for regional and interstate services. That project blew out last year by $826 million to $2.29 billion due to a dispute with the manufacturer over design changes to the fleet and inadequate planning.

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