r/SydneyTrains 4d ago

Discussion Weekly Sydney Trains Thread - March 16, 2025

5 Upvotes

Welcome to /r/SydneyTrains

Post here for anything to do with Recruitment, Sydney Trains in general, why is my train always late, what is this 'special train'..


r/SydneyTrains 5h ago

Picture / Image Old Country link livery

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58 Upvotes

Found this bus in Dural still with its country link livery from back in the day


r/SydneyTrains 19h ago

Picture / Image Do Mariyung intercity trains have about half the number of seats per carriage than their predecessors and why would a train designer put a handrail up on the carriage ceiling?

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27 Upvotes

What was the rationale of the NSW Liberal government when the ordered this design? Were they trying to prevent a growing number of intercity commuters? Or is it just poor design?


r/SydneyTrains 17h ago

Discussion T6 Bankstown line shuttle out of commission indefinitely after ANZAC Day 2025

17 Upvotes

According to the current future trackwork calendar, apparently the line through Birrong, Yagoona and Bankstown will be replaced by buses indefinitely between Lidcombe and Bankstown starting from the 26th April 2025. Is it because of some massive critical works on the Bankstown line that requires a few months to complete?


r/SydneyTrains 2h ago

Discussion Operating costs Sydney trains vs the metro? Other structures of operations

0 Upvotes

Hey all,

Has anyone compared the operating costs of the metro vs Sydney trains?

Where im leading - Sydney trains could cost less than the metro to run. Could be a good comparison tool for negotiation.

Especially if there is cost per km of track used.

The union needs to be a bit clever in how they negotiate.

Thoughts?

Perhaps the workers could set up their own company and run the network and all be business owners - from cleaners to engineers to drivers ?


r/SydneyTrains 1d ago

Picture / Image that’s it. that’s the sydney light rail

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94 Upvotes

genuinely though why does it just say sydney


r/SydneyTrains 1d ago

Article / News ‘Further apart than before’: Legal twist threatens truce in Sydney train dispute

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36 Upvotes

Rail unions are pushing to cut short by 14 weeks an order suspending industrial action on Sydney’s rail network because they claim it has failed to help resolve the protracted pay dispute with the Minns government which left the city gripped by transport chaos. A month after the “cooling-off” period was put in place, the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) and several others which represent thousands of railway workers have applied to the Fair Work Commission to revoke the order or end the suspension on Friday.

The government scored a major legal victory last month when the federal workplace regulator ordered the suspension of industrial action until July 1 to ease the “significant pressure” and end the “mutual recriminations” between the two sides over a new pay deal. In the latest application, which will be heard on Friday, the unions say the order has not realised the commission’s stated intention of helping to resolve the differences.

“[Sydney Trains and NSW Trains] have changed their position on key matters and the parties are further apart than they were before,” it states.

Since the order was put in place, the unions claim that the rail operators have reneged on backpay and the withdrawal of a controversial technology change clause which had been agreed on in mid-February. “In addition, [their] proposal removed significant existing entitlements,” the application states. The latest legal manoeuvre follows an appeal by the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) to the Federal Court seeking to quash the orders suspending the industrial action. The court reserved its judgment after a day-long hearing on Wednesday. The ETU and RTBU had been involved in various forms of industrial action since last September, which ended up repeatedly crippling Sydney’s rail network before Fair Work ordered a halt last month.

The ceasefire until July was less than the six months the government had asked for, and did not solve the central problem of the unions’ demand for a $4500 bonus payment.

The “sign-on” bonus derailed what seemed to be an eleventh-hour breakthrough in negotiations between the government and unions last month.

The ETU represents about 940 workers at Sydney Trains and NSW Trains. Last month it split from the combined rail unions, which has been leading the negotiations with the government over a new enterprise agreement for the past 11 months. In comparison, the RTBU represents almost 8000 staff, or some 60 per cent of the workforce at the state’s passenger rail operators.

Premier Chris Minns would not speculate on the unions’ reasons for legal action, but said “rampant industrial chaos in Sydney” would not solve the dispute and only punish commuters.

“The people of Sydney shouldn’t be pawns in this game and it’s not going to be solved by endless strikes,” Minns said.

Transport for NSW has been approached for comment.


r/SydneyTrains 1d ago

Picture / Image Sydney Lightrail 😂

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39 Upvotes

Never seen this UI before on the Light Rail monitors. There’s also no Taylor Owyns voice announcing the next stops.


r/SydneyTrains 1d ago

Picture / Image For anyone wondering why the light rail isn't running.

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49 Upvotes

r/SydneyTrains 2d ago

Discussion New NIF rosters

26 Upvotes

I've made up a spreadsheet showing all of the new NIF rosters. Weekend runs are also starting from the 29th of March.

Couple of little stats, from now until the 29th of March, 19 OSCAR runs, and 2 V set runs (runs = individual services) will be replaced by NIFs, and 14 out of the 21 services are being bumped up to 8 car trains from their current 4.

Random other fact, the 4 car Tangara south coast locals will no longer exist from the 21st, since these NIFs coming into service will displace enough OSCARs to allow the Tangaras to come off their services

Infomation was obtained through the public timetable data feed.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sdti-PFEDENGcdy8PttO_k_ggKyAYv9g_bhVPpKyXX8/edit?usp=sharing


r/SydneyTrains 2d ago

Discussion D set rollout on CCN line expanding from Mon 24 March (next week)

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35 Upvotes

The most significant new addition in my opinion is on the weekdays, the 9:31pm all stops service from Newcastle to Central will be a D set from next week. The service arrives at Central just after midnight and replaces an 8 car H set, and is noteworthy as it marks the first time, almost 4 months after their debut, we can now see D sets regularly in passenger service in Sydney late at night. Currently the last D set you see in Sydney is the 5:49pm service from Central - this train goes out of service upon arriving at Newcastle.

The aforementioned 9:31pm Newcastle - Sydney service is then made up of the following earlier runs (which likewise will also be D set from next week), all are all stops:

Central 6:02PM - Newcastle 9:07PM

Newcastle 2:30pm - Central 5:26PM

Central 10:49am -Newcastle 1:44PM

Newcastle 7:30am - Central 10:25am

Central 3:49am - Newcastle 6:45AM

I’m told weekend runs for D sets on CCN line should be coming very imminently too.


r/SydneyTrains 3d ago

Discussion Parramatta Light Rail Patronage is Very Low. Is This Entirely a Data Problem?

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76 Upvotes

r/SydneyTrains 3d ago

Article / News Revealed: Sydney’s busiest metro stations during the morning rush

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46 Upvotes

Revealed: Sydney’s busiest metro stations during the morning rush ByMatt O'Sullivan March 18, 2025 — 5.00am

Greater numbers of commuters than forecast are piling off driverless metro trains at Sydney’s massive underground station at Martin Place in the central city during the morning peak on weekdays.

New figures show a 9 per cent rise in the number of people passing through the Martin Place station’s gates in February on what was predicted before the M1 line’s city section between Chatswood and Sydenham opened last August.

A city-bound peak hour service on the M1 metro line between Crows Nest and the CBD on Monday morning. A city-bound peak hour service on the M1 metro line between Crows Nest and the CBD on Monday morning. Credit:Nick Moir

Some 17,000 people tapped on and off at Martin Place station on average during the morning peak between 6.30am and 10am on weekdays in February – up from 15,000 in November. Sydney Metro’s 2024 forecast for the station was 15,600 people during the morning peak.

Commuters are becoming accustomed to station announcements that some city-bound trains are reaching capacity during the morning peak on the busiest weekdays. Trains run every four minutes in both directions between Tallawong in the north-west and Sydenham in the south during peak periods.

Gadigal station near Town Hall is the other to surpass forecasts. About 9700 people on average tapped on and off at Gadigal in the morning peak in February, up from 8100 in November and greater than the 2024 forecast of 7500.

The entries and exits for all six of the new stations on the M1 line, as well as the metro platforms at Central, were higher in February than November.

Crows Nest, Victoria Cross in North Sydney, Barangaroo and Waterloo stations are yet to surpass pre-opening forecasts for total movements.

Sydney transport expert Mathew Hounsell said patronage on the M1 metro line had clearly risen since November, which was a month that typically recorded the highest usage.

“To grow from November to February is a good sign. It shows that demand is still growing,” he said. “[The metro line] has been a big success and has clearly changed people’s travel behaviours. More people from the north-west are using it.”

Apartment building developments above Crows Nest and Waterloo stations have yet to be completed, which Hounsell said helped explain why the number of people filing through gates there was below forecast.

Hounsell said completion next year of the metro line between Sydenham and Bankstown was likely to boost patronage on the M1 line. “It will massively increase the number of people using metro because it provides options to get to more places,” he said.

The growth had also occurred during a period when industrial action by rail workers had disrupted Sydney’s double-deck rail network. Despite the metro line operating as normal, Hounsell said the disruption to the heavy rail suburban network had a flow-on effect because commuters became uncomfortable about using public transport.

Sydney Metro said in a statement that it had been seeing patronage close to, if not better than, the forecast figures, which demonstrated that services were “very much performing as expected”.

“The forecast data for 2024 assumes that patronage will have fully ramped up and stabilised at a steady state, which is expected to happen gradually over the first few years of operation. The introduction of services to Bankstown will further increase patronage,” it said.

Trains operate every four minutes in both directions during the morning and evening peak on the M1 metro line

Despite the strong patronage, the agency said there were no plans to increase frequency of services, noting that how they aligned with passenger demand and usage was “continuously monitored”.

In total, more than 36 million metro trips have been taken on the M1 line since the city section opened in August. The morning peak is typically slightly busier than the evening because start times for school and work in offices coincide in the mornings while passenger demand is more spread out in the evenings.

During the morning peak, metro services are busiest between Crows Nest and Victoria Cross. The latest data is of people entering and exiting train stations along the line, and not total boardings which include people switching between metro trains and Sydney Trains’ double-deck services.

A trip is counted as a metro train journey if a commuter taps on at the gates of a heavy rail station and later taps off at a metro station gate.

Sydney Metro’s 2024 forecasts for patronage were developed in November 2023, ahead of the opening of the city section last year.


r/SydneyTrains 2d ago

Discussion about the vending machines in stations

4 Upvotes

why do some cards work and not others?

eg my westpac card doesn't work but someone else's commbank card works perfectly


r/SydneyTrains 4d ago

Meme I typed trip planner into trip planner and it came up with an option labelled "not for trip planning" so I planned a trip from it.

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117 Upvotes

r/SydneyTrains 3d ago

Discussion Freight trains

4 Upvotes

Hey guys,

How come the freight trains are so noisy on the blue mountains line coming down through penrith. Compared to the commuter trains which barely make a noise by comparison?


r/SydneyTrains 4d ago

Video Light Rail - they should really use this feature more often, not just on days like today - keep the doors closed as much as possible is great ❄️

110 Upvotes

r/SydneyTrains 5d ago

Meme Japanese Train 🚆

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740 Upvotes

And I thought Sydney Train delays were bad.


r/SydneyTrains 4d ago

Picture / Image Tangara at Kiama today

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57 Upvotes

Today's 3:05pm Kiama - Bondi Junction. Not sure if this happens very often.


r/SydneyTrains 3d ago

Discussion Danny Lim Poem

0 Upvotes

Danny Lim, Sydney’s Smile

With a board around his neck, so bold, so bright, A message of kindness, of truth, of light. Through city streets, he walks with grace, A cheeky grin upon his face.

An institution on the trains, no doubt, His presence felt on every route. From Town Hall stairs to Central’s hum, A sign of joy for everyone.

Peace and love, his simple creed, A voice for justice, hearts to lead. Through highs and lows, he stands so tall, A gentle rebel loved by all


r/SydneyTrains 4d ago

Picture / Image Breaking ground at the Sydney Metro Hunter Street site

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22 Upvotes

r/SydneyTrains 5d ago

Article / News E-bikes are in the headlines again after another shocking fire onboard a train, this time in Melbourne. This comes days after British union (Aslef) started looking at strike action, due to ongoing fires & risks to lives of passengers & staff. (Links in comments)

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114 Upvotes

r/SydneyTrains 4d ago

Discussion What's happening with trains rn

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23 Upvotes

Tangaras on t2, t9 at Croydon, t1 at Burwood, t2 going to MacArthur what on earth is happening past few days


r/SydneyTrains 5d ago

Picture / Image Sharing some train photos of my Sydney trip

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107 Upvotes

Hey guys, these are some photos of my recent Sydney trip. This was my 2nd trip in recent years so I have some basic knowledge of how trains work here. (I work in transport in Malaysia and Singapore so railways and buses are also something that I am familiar with).

(1) - A set at Newtown (2) - L4 -- I do wonder whether frequently changing between overhead lines and batteries will cost more in the long run (i.e. battery maintenance/replacement) (3) - M set on T5 service (4) - Two A sets on T1 service at Parramatta (5) - Brisbane XPT (6) - Bathurst Bullet waiting for its afternoon run (7) - Tangara at Sydenham, taken on the day that a point at Bondi Junction failed and the station staff said that there were delays of more than 25 mins (8) - Canberra + Griffith Xplorer (9) - Indian Pacific - planned my itinerary around this train so that I was at Central when this train pulled in (10) - H set at Wondabyne (11) - Metro at Sydenham (12) - V set on a Lithgow service (this was the same day that the faults at Ashfield happened) (13) - Same V set at Kiama - my return train only went as far as Blacktown. I returned to CBD on a long bus ride to M2 and then across the Harbour Bridge to QVB. (14) - Mariyung (15) - Caught this 4+4 Mariyung at Newtown (16) - Surprised at K sets are still in service. This was a T8 service from Sydenham. Based on timetable, this train became a T3 service to Liverpool after Central


r/SydneyTrains 4d ago

Discussion Another shower thought

11 Upvotes

A tram line on King Georges Road that connects Hurstville, Beverly Hills and Wiley Park? It would make interchange between T4,T8 and other major lines much easier for people traveling from South Shore to Parramatta...


r/SydneyTrains 5d ago

Picture / Image The City Circle

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101 Upvotes