New South Wales is to replace its entire regional rail fleet

Mr Barilaro said an Expression of Interest will soon be issued for the design, construction and maintenance of the new trains and a new maintenance facility in New South Wales, with Dubbo earmarked as the preferred maintenance location. This will be a boost for regional jobs, with the fleet replacement program delivering unprecedented levels of comfort and service for regional rail customers.

“It gives me great pleasure to announce this entire new regional fleet will be serviced in regional New South Wales,” Mr Barilaro said. “Dubbo has been identified as our preferred location for a brand new maintenance facility to support the new fleet. This will be a game-changer for the people of regional NSW, delivering more convenient timetabling and reduced congestion for regional and rural passengers. Importantly, the new maintenance facility will also deliver long-term skilled jobs, including apprentices and traineeships for the Orana region.

“This announcement signals the depth of our commitment to rural and regional communities by ensuring that services that deliver for country areas are supported by country jobs.”

The procurement program will not just replace the XPT trains, but the Endeavour and XPLORER trains as well and the project will include the use of private financing to facilitate the delivery of the new trains and maintenance facility.

Not only will 60 XPT passenger cars (plus 19 diesel locomotives) be replaced, but so too will 23 XPLORER and 28 Endeavour passenger cars.

“Modernising the entire regional fleet allows the opportunity to incorporate benefits that were not available in 1982, when the first XPT rolled onto our tracks,” added Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance. “When the NSW Government promised to deliver new trains to replace the ageing XPT fleet, we also committed to looking at the feasibility of replacing Endeavour and XPLORER trains. The result of those considerations has been a decision to replace all three sets, in favour of more modern rolling stock.”

The new trains will be operated by NSW TrainLink, the NSW Government owned regional rail and coach service provider.

Work will commence in the coming weeks towards obtaining the necessary Planning Approvals for this new facility and it is hoped that the new facility will be built ahead of the new trains expected in the early 2020s.