The new Mariyung fleet that entered service in New South Wales this week is the first refresh of the state’s intercity trains in almost two decades.
The rolling stock update cost more than $4bn and the trains arrived in the state in 2019. But their debut on routes such as Sydney-Newcastle, and soon on the Blue Mountains and South Coast lines, was delayed by five years due to a number of issues, including concerns they were too wide, technical disputes and modification works demanded by unions that cost $1bn.
Now, the years-long wait is over. So how do the new trains stack up?
Shiny and fresh
Arriving at the country departures hall at Central station, the new Mariyung fleet looks shinier and fresher than its tired and blackened intercity predecessor on neighbouring platforms.
Digital screens on the outside of each carriage display trip information – a sign of the technological leap forward.
Onboard, the carriages are a pleasant temperature. They are well air-conditioned despite the heat of the day. But not chilly.
They feel clean and new (because, of course, they are). This is noteworthy because train rides on intercity routes in NSW have been starved of that fresh “new-train smell” for decades, with most commuters stuck on 1970s rolling stock.
Seats on the new Mariyung are configured two by two with an aisle down the middle. There are upper and lower decks, as Sydney metropolitan passengers have become accustomed to in recent decades.
While the seats don’t flip to face in either direction – an iconic feature of Sydney’s double-decker city trains – they have tray tables that fold down.
More importantly, the seats are comfortable, have decent headrests and are spacious enough that my knees – as a 6ft 2in-ish man – don’t get crunched up.
They’re also relatively lean and without too much bulk underneath, meaning it’s easy to stretch your legs out under the seat in front. It’s certainly more comfortable than the average economy seat on a domestic flight.
Perhaps, the most impressive technological leap onboard is the charging facilities at each seat. While passengers must share an outlet with their neighbour, each double seat has a USB-A and conventional wall plug socket. The USB charging speed, while not fast, means you won’t deplete your phone’s battery on an hours-long trip.
This charging capability, coupled with the tray tables, makes taking out a laptop and getting work done on intercity trips more feasible.
However, some shortcomings make the Mariyung seats far from a comfortable remote office.
The tray tables are at a slightly strange angle for typing and looking at your screen – especially if you’re on the taller side.
And, more crucially, despite the modernity of these trains being hailed by successive governments, there’s no onboard wifi.
Instead, you’ll need to hotspot off your phone. And while reception is generally better on this fleet – avoiding the metal cage Faraday effect that eliminated reception inside older intercity train carriages in NSW – there are still blackspots between Sydney and Newcastle. (The other routes, west over the Blue Mountains and south through Wollongong, are due to start running Mariyung trains in the coming months.)
The wifi situation is far from ideal. However, there are plenty of other positives. The Mariyung trains are quieter – something you really notice in the designated “quiet” carriages.
Special areas to stow suitcases, luggage and bikes are welcome, as are the relatively spacious bathrooms with sensor taps.
The toilets were clean and comfortable when I travelled this week. However, there were fast food wrappings left inside one, and less than a day after the trains entered service, photos shared online showed graffitied toilet seats.
Not revolutionary
Ultimately, while the new Mariyung trains make for a much more pleasant trip, they don’t feel revolutionary like the Sydney Metro that opened in August does. That initiative has genuinely changed lives by allowing people to move more easily and swiftly across the city.
The metro also offered a glimpse into the future of train travel, with its grand stations and speedier trips, whereas the Mariyung’s charging outlets and modern fit-outs are more about catching up to what has become standard on intercity trains elsewhere.
The new intercity trains also don’t shave any time off the roughly 2.5-hour journey between Sydney and Newcastle – even on the express run.
Speeds across much of regional NSW are firmly stuck in the 20th century. Indeed, a non-stop Sydney to Newcastle service about 100 years ago, the Newcastle Flyer, completed the trip in just over two hours.
So, despite the modern trimmings, the Mariyung trains don’t feel like a huge leap forward. The billions could have been spent upgrading tracks to allow for more express services with fewer stops. That would deliver time savings.
For those wanting a significantly faster trip, hopes lie in the federal government’s current high-speed rail project, but the wait for that could be decades, not years.
• This story was amended on 7 December 2024. A previous version incorrectly stated that the Mariyung trains were engines.
