Regional trains in NSW are old, slow and half-empty – but I still enjoy the ride

‘It’s not until we hit the Hunter Valley with its duplicated tracks that the Xplorer achieves a constant speed, and we pulled into Sydney’s Central station just before 5pm.’ Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

I’ve been catching the TrainLink to Sydney from the New South Wales New England region for years. You could call it our best-kept secret, but in truth we’ve kept it too well: very few northern New Englanders travel on our daily coach and train service.

It also feels slightly subversive actually using the public transport already available to us instead of weighing in to the bitter debate about reopening the northernmost stretch of the old Great Northern Railway to passenger trains at a cost of up to $2bn. Those trains stopped 35 years ago, and plans to build cycle-friendly rail trails on the disused tracks are under way, but for a loud contingent of train-loving locals that’s the only rail worth talking about.