Labor has promised to improve the ageing trains that run from Sydney to Melbourne and Brisbane if it wins the New South Wales election, as the Coalition’s delayed replacement fleet leaves passengers in carriages without phone reception for most of this decade.
The pledge follows revelations from an advisory report that the NSW government’s contract for new regional trains is set to blow out by more than $1bn, with the first of the rolling stock that was meant to enter service this January now delayed to as late as December 2025.
