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NSW TrainLink

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NSW TrainLink
Two XPTs in Sydney
Two XPTs in Sydney
Roundel
Roundel
Overview
OwnerTransport for NSW
Area served
  • New South Wales
  • Australian Capital Territory
  • Victoria
  • Queensland
  • South Australia
LocaleNew South Wales
Transit type
Number of lines4
Number of stations93[a]
Annual ridership46.4 million (2017/18)[needs update]
Chief executiveRoger Weeks
Websitetransportnsw.info/regional Edit this at Wikidata
Operation
Began operation1 July 2013
Operator(s)NSW Trains and private coach operators
Rolling stock
Technical
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

NSW TrainLink is a train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, along with limited interstate services into Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Its primary services are spread across five major rail lines, operating out of Sydney.

NSW TrainLink was formed on 1 July 2013 when RailCorp was restructured and CountryLink was merged with the intercity services of CityRail. It is expected to be merged into Sydney Trains in 2025.

History

[edit]

In May 2012, the Minister for Transport announced a restructure of RailCorp.[1][2] On 1 July 2013, NSW TrainLink took over the operation of regional rail and coach services previously operated by CountryLink; non-metropolitan Sydney services previously operated by CityRail; and responsibility for the Main Northern railway line from Berowra to Newcastle, the Main Western railway line from Emu Plains to Bathurst, and the Illawarra railway line from Waterfall to Bomaderry.[3][4][5]

On 21 August 2023, it was announced that the majority of intercity passenger services, crew and stations would move from NSW TrainLink to Sydney Trains.[6]

The process of transferring intercity services from NSW TrainLink to Sydney Trains began in 2023.[7] From 1 July 2024, NSW TrainLink's Intercity services were taken under the responsibility of Sydney Trains.[8]

In November 2024, it was confirmed that NSW TrainLink is to be disbanded with its operations merged into Sydney Trains.[9]

Following talks between the New South Wales Government and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union which took place in November 2024, the railway union stated that an agreement had been reached to merge NSW TrainLink with Sydney Trains in 2025.[9]

Network

[edit]

NSW TrainLink services operate in areas of lower population density, using a reserved seat ticketing system.

An XPT travelling from Melbourne to Sydney, pictured between Jindalee and Morrisons Hill, New South Wales

Train services

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NSW TrainLink operates regional passenger services throughout New South Wales and interstate to Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne. All rail services utilise diesel rolling stock. For more details of each train line see List of NSW TrainLink train routes.

Line colour and name Between
Central to Brisbane
Central to Armidale or Moree
Central to Canberra or Griffith or Melbourne
Central to Broken Hill or Dubbo

North Coast

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North Coast services operate through the Mid North Coast, Northern Rivers and South East Queensland regions. Services operate on the Main North and North Coast lines, travelling between Sydney Central station and Roma Street station in Brisbane.[10]

Principal stations served by XPT trains are:

See the full list of stations served.

Cities and towns served by NSW TrainLink coaches connecting off North Coast services include: Tea Gardens, Forster, Port Macquarie, Yamba, Moree, Alstonville, Lismore, Ballina, Byron Bay, Murwillumbah, Tweed Heads and Surfers Paradise.

North Western

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North Western services operate through the Hunter, New England and North West Slopes & Plains regions. Services operate on the Main North line from Sydney Central station to Werris Creek. where the service divides for Armidale and Moree.[11]

Principal stations served by Xplorer trains are:

Cities and towns served by NSW TrainLink coaches connecting off North Western services include: Wee Waa, Inverell, Grafton, Glen Innes and Tenterfield.

Western

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Western region services operate through the Central Tablelands, Orana, and Far West regions. Services operate on the Main Western Line from Sydney Central station to Dubbo and the Broken Hill line to Broken Hill.[12]

Principal stations served by XPT trains are:

Principal stations served by Xplorer trains are:

Cities and towns served by NSW TrainLink coaches connecting off Western services include: Oberon, Mudgee, Baradine, Cowra, Grenfell, Forbes, Parkes, Condobolin, Lightning Ridge, Brewarrina, Bourke, Warren and Broken Hill.

Southern

[edit]

Southern region services operate through the Illawarra, South Coast, Monaro, South West Slopes, Southern Tablelands, Riverina, and Sunraysia regions, plus the Australian Capital Territory and parts of Victoria.

Services operate on the:

Principal stations served by XPT trains are:

Principal stations served by Xplorer trains are:

Cities and towns served by NSW TrainLink coaches connecting off Southern services include: Wollongong, Bombala, Eden, Tumbarumba, Bathurst, Dubbo, Condobolin, Griffith, Mildura and Echuca.

Roundel used to identify coach services

Coach services

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Dysons Irizar i6 bodied Scania K310IB at Wagga Wagga station in September 2015
Dysons Mitsubishi Fuso Rosa at Wagga Wagga station in January 2015

NSW TrainLink continued with the existing contracts entered into by CityRail and CountryLink for the provision of coach services.

On 1 July 2014, the Lithgow to Gulgong, Coonabarabran, Baradine services passed from Greyhound Australia to Ogden's Coaches.[14]

In July 2014, Transport for NSW commenced the re-tendering process for most of the routes with the previous 24 contracts reorganised into 18 contracts. The new contracts commenced on 1 January 2015 for a five-year period, with an option to extend for three years if performance criteria are met.[14][15] The services operated by Forest Coach Lines and Sunstate Coaches commenced new five-year contracts on 1 July 2016.[16][17]

The full list of coach operators providing services as at January 2015 was:[14][18]

Operator Services
Australia Wide Coaches Lithgow to Bathurst, Orange & Parkes
BusBiz Lithgow to Dubbo & Nyngan
Dubbo to Lightning Ridge
Dubbo to Bourke
Dubbo to Broken Hill
Coolabah to Brewarrina
Wagga Wagga to Kingston and Queanbeyan
Berrima Coaches Picton to Bowral
Busways Port Macquarie to Wauchope, Wauchope to Port Macquarie
CDC Canberra Canberra to Bombala & Eden
Dysons Wagga Wagga to Griffith
Cootamundra to Tumbarumba
Cootamundra to Bathurst/Dubbo
Parkes to Condobolin
Forest Coach Lines Narrabri to Wee Waa & Burren Junction
Hunter Valley Buses Fassifern to Toronto
Loader's Coaches Lithgow to Grenfell
Oberon Bus Company Mount Victoria to Oberon
Ogden's Coaches Lithgow to Gulgong, Coonabarabran & Baradine
Oxley Explorer Armidale to Tenterfield, Port Macquarie to Tamworth, Tamworth to Port Macquarie
Port Stephens Coaches Broadmeadow to Taree
Premier Shoalhaven Kiama to Bomaderry
Moss Vale to Bundanoon/Goulburn
G&J Purtill Cootamundra to Condobolin
Cootamundra to Mildura
Wagga Wagga to Echuca
Albury to Echuca
Roadcoach Moss Vale to Wollongong
Queanbeyan to Cootamundra
Sunstate Coaches Grafton to Byron Bay
Casino to Tweed Heads
Casino to Surfers Paradise
Casino to Brisbane
Symes Coaches Tamworth/Armidale to Inverell
Moree to Grafton

+ not included in January 2015 re-tendering process

From 2018, NSW TrainLink introduced several new road coach services on a trial basis:[19][better source needed]

Rolling stock

[edit]
Main article: NSW TrainLink rolling stock

The entire NSW TrainLink fleet is maintained by Sydney Trains either directly or via a Sydney Trains contract with UGL Rail.

Class Image Type Service Speed Carriage Numbers Routes operated Built
km/h mph
XPT Diesel locomotive 160 99 19 locomotives 1981–1994
XPT carriages Passenger carriage 60 carriages
Xplorer Diesel multiple unit 145 90 23 1993

Future fleet

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Class Image Type Service Speed Carriage Numbers Future routes Built
km/h mph
R set Electro-diesel multiple unit 160 99 117 (to be built) 2026/27 (scheduled)

A fleet of bi-mode CAF Civity trains are scheduled to replace the XPT, Xplorer and Endeavour fleets as part of the NSW TrainLink Regional Train Project.[34][35][36]

Performance

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Patronage surged on regional trains in 2023, reversing pandemic-era losses and increasing a further three percent, with a particular increase in ridership on Sydney-Melbourne services. 107,000 monthly journeys were made on regional trains in 2023.[37]

Regional services are considered on-time if they operate within ten minutes of their scheduled time.[38] The target is for 92 percent of intercity services (formerly operated by NSW TrainLink) and 78 percent of regional services to operate on-time. In 2017–18 NSW Trains met both the Intercity target and the regional target. However, it failed to meet the Intercity target during peak hours.[39] These results partially reverse a trend of failing to meet punctuality targets. Since the organisation commenced operations in 2013–14, NSW Trains has never met the intercity peak punctuality target.[40][39] Regional train services have achieved their punctuality target twice, in 2015–16 and 2017–18. The 2015–16 result was the first time NSW Trains or its predecessor RailCorp had achieved the target in 13 years.[41][39]

The following table lists patronage figures for the network during the corresponding financial year. Australia's financial years start on 1 July and end on 30 June. Major events that affected the number of journeys made or how patronage is measured are included as notes.

NSW TrainLink patronage by financial year
Year 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
Intercity (millions) 32.9[b] 34.5[c] 38.5[d] 40.8[e] 44.7[f] 41.3 31.2[g]
Regional trains (millions) 1.23 1.22 1.24 1.69 < 1.7[h]
Regional coaches (millions) 0.572 0.537 0.510
References [42] [43] [44] [45] [46]
  1. ^ Not including coach stops.
  2. ^ Opal rollout completed in April 2014
  3. ^ Services in central Newcastle replaced by buses in December 2014
  4. ^ Increase largely due to a change in the calculation of journeys for Opal vs magnetic stripe tickets
  5. ^ Non-Opal tickets discontinued in August 2016
  6. ^ Newcastle Interchange extension opened in October 2017
  7. ^ Patronage was lower than previous years due to people staying at home and not taking public transport to school or work during the COVID-19 pandemic
  8. ^ Patronage reported as 1.7 million journeys but was down by 1.4 percent compared to the previous year

The following table shows the patronage of each line of the NSW TrainLink Intercity network for the year ending 30 June 2024, based on Opal tap on and tap off data.[47]

2023–24 NSW TrainLink Intercity patronage by line
7,152,563
13,189,811
803,606
7,132,670
755,919


Depots

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The XPT fleet is maintained at the XPT Service Centre and the Endeavour and Xplorer fleets at Eveleigh Railway Workshops. The new bi-mode[48] fleet will be maintained at a new facility, Mindyarra Maintenance Centre, in Dubbo.[49][50]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "RailCorp job cuts first of many: unions" Archived 27 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine Sydney Morning Herald 15 May 2012
  2. ^ "Ruthless RailCorp reforms planned as middle management axed" Daily Telegraph 15 May 2012
  3. ^ Annual Report 30 June 2012 Archived 25 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine RailCorp
  4. ^ Corporate Plan 2012/13 Archived 25 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine RailCorp
  5. ^ Wood, Alicia (16 November 2012). "700 jobs to go as RailCorp gets the axe". AAP. The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012.
  6. ^ Minister for Transport (21 August 2023). "Agreement reached for New Intercity Fleet". Government of New South Wales (Press release). Archived from the original on 22 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Agreement reached for New Intercity Fleet". NSW Government. 21 August 2023. Archived from the original on 22 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Orange community having a say on rail services". www.transport.nsw.gov.au. 29 October 2024. Archived from the original on 17 December 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024. Prior to 1 July 2024 the service was operated by NSW TrainLink
  9. ^ a b O'Sullivan, Matt (23 November 2024). "Major concessions made in crisis talk to avert Sydney rail shutdown". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 22 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024. Following two days of intense negotiations, rail unions said the government had agreed to abolish NSW TrainLink and bring all passenger services within one railway agency, which would help fast-track ways to find savings amid pay talks by removing duplication.
  10. ^ "North Coast timetable". NSW TrainLink. 7 September 2019.
  11. ^ "North West timetable". NSW TrainLink. 7 September 2019.
  12. ^ "Western timetable". NSW TrainLink. 7 September 2019.
  13. ^ "Southern timetable". NSW TrainLink. 7 September 2019.
  14. ^ a b c New NSW TrainLink Rural Coach Service Contracts Australian Bus issue 68 March 2015 page 20
  15. ^ Provision of NSW Rural Coach Services Archived 31 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine NSW eTendering 11 July 2014
  16. ^ Contract Award Notice Detail Archived 21 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine NSW eTendering 19 July 2016
  17. ^ Contract Award Notice Detail Archived 21 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine NSW eTendering 19 July 2016
  18. ^ suppliers NSW TrainLink
  19. ^ NSW TrainLink Regional Coach trials Archived 13 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine Transport for NSW
  20. ^ Brewarrina to Coolabah timetable NSW TrainLink May 2018
  21. ^ Bourke to Dubbo timetable NSW TrainLink May 2018
  22. ^ Campbelltown to Goulburn timetable NSW TrainLink September 2018
  23. ^ Goulburn to Canberra timetable NSW TrainLink September 2018
  24. ^ a b c "NSW makes multiple coach trials permanent | News". Australasian Bus and Coach. 26 June 2023. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  25. ^ Forster to Coffs Harbour timetable NSW TrainLink April 2019
  26. ^ Wagga Wagga to Queanbeyan timetable NSW TrainLink April 2019
  27. ^ a b Arriving now – Broken Hill to Mildura and Adelaide coach services Roads & Maritime Services 13 June 2019
  28. ^ a b Broken Hill to Adelaide & Mildura timetable NSW TrainLink June 2019
  29. ^ Cooma to Anglers Reach timetable NSW TrainLink December 2019
  30. ^ Goulburn to Bigga timetable NSW TrainLink December 2019
  31. ^ Delegate to Nimmitabel timetable NSW TrainLink December 2019
  32. ^ Goodooga to Dubbo timetable NSW TrainLink December 2019
  33. ^ Walgett to Moree timetable NSW TrainLink December 2019
  34. ^ "Regional Rail". Transport for NSW. 26 September 2019. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  35. ^ NSW Region train fleet on track Archived 15 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine Transport for New South Wales 14 August 2017
  36. ^ NSW region train fleet to be replaced Archived 19 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine Railway Gazette International 15 August 2017
  37. ^ Bajkowski, Julian (19 December 2023). "Commuters dump planes for trains… in Australia". The Mandarin. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  38. ^ "Our performance". Sydney Trains. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  39. ^ a b c "NSW Trains Annual Report 2017–18" (PDF). NSW Trains. pp. 26, 27. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 December 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  40. ^ "NSW Trains 2016–17 Annual Report" (PDF). NSW Trains. 18 June 2017. p. 15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 December 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  41. ^ "NSW Trains 2015–16 Annual Report Volume 1" (PDF). NSW Trains. pp. 17, 22–23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  42. ^ "Transport for NSW Annual Report 2014–15" (PDF). Transport for NSW. p. 131. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 March 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  43. ^ "NSW Trains 2015–16 Annual Report" (PDF). NSW Trains. 18 June 2017. p. 17. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  44. ^ "NSW Trains 2016–17 Annual Report" (PDF). NSW Trains. 18 June 2017. pp. 8, 15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 December 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  45. ^ "NSW Trains Annual Report 2017–18" (PDF). NSW Trains. pp. 8, 24. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 December 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  46. ^ "Train Patronage – Monthly Figures". Transport for NSW. Archived from the original on 30 July 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  47. ^ "Train Patronage – Monthly Figures". Transport for NSW. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  48. ^ "NSW chooses bi-mode option for regional train replacement". International Railway Journal. 30 September 2019. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  49. ^ NSW seeks private finance for regional fleet Archived 18 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine International Railway Journal 15 August 2017
  50. ^ "Regional Rail". Transport for NSW. 31 May 2017. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
[edit]

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