LOCAL rail travellers are questioning NSW TrainLink’s handling and timing of service cutbacks.
For the next 12 months, refurbishment of the state’s existing XPT train fleet means there will be a premium coach service between Grafton and Sydney Central.
There will be two services each way daily, providing an express and a selected stops service to minimise journey time, a NSW TrainLink spokesperson told News Of The Area.
The two options to go by train, direct from Coffs to Sydney Central, are at 11.02am and 22.10pm.
There are three coach options and one train/coach option, which requires waiting at Wauchope station for four hours and 37 minutes.
The spokesperson said that the refurbishment work is to ensure that the fleet continues to provide passengers with a safe and comfortable service until the next generation Regional Rail Fleet is ready to be introduced,
“The refurbished XPT program is progressing with upgrades including new windows, seating, painting, and reliability improvements already underway on 17 passenger and power cars.”
However, there are only 48 seats available on a coach compared to a five or six-carriage train providing capacity for around 320 passengers.
One Coffs train user who asked not to be named, is frustrated that the coaches have not replaced the trains like-for-like.
“The 6.26am-15.44pm train was scrapped altogether and is replaced by three separate buses all leaving at 5.15am,” he said.
“Each is providing a different service and missing out local stops at Sawtell, Nambucca and Macksville stations, stopping at either Taree or Wauchope, and missing all the other stations in between to Sydney Central.
“It is not stated if there is more than one coach per service on the new timetable.
“This is downright poor management in maintaining the existing fleet of XPTs over their whole service time.”
TrainLink said the Sydney-Grafton route was chosen to be provided by a temporary coach service as it causes the least disruption to passengers, with lower patronage and alternative daily train services still being available.
“That’s not good enough for the Coffs Coast patronage,” another user said.
“Our region may provide less passengers and business for TrainLink compared to our metropolitan friends, but our travel needs are just as important.
“We all know the impact that metropolitan users complain of when their services are interrupted, however there seems little concern for non-metropolitan train users, [who are] expected to suffer for 12 months.”
The new Regional Rail Fleet currently stands at three new trains in Australia, “and throughout 2025 and beyond we will see more trains arriving.
“There is a huge amount of work to be done and a timeline for the delivery of the balance of the trains will be confirmed once the manufacturing, testing and assurance phase has been completed.”
No other regional train services are affected by this temporary change.
The XPT fleet has been in service for 40-plus years.
By Andrea FERRARI
