On 21 August 2023, a transition was announced for the operation of the Mariyung trains and the majority of intercity passenger services, crew and stations from NSW TrainLink to Sydney Trains.[6]
Network
The NSW TrainLink network is divided into two tiers, branded as Intercity and Regional. Intercity services operate commuter style services, mainly to and from Sydney with limited stops within the metropolitan area. The Intercity network is part of Transport for NSW's Opal ticketing system. Seats on Intercity services are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Regional services operate in areas of lower population density, providing passenger transport mainly between regional NSW and Sydney (although some cross country and interstate services operate). Regional services use a separate, reserved seat, ticketing system.
NSW TrainLink Intercity network (excluding the Sydney suburban portions of lines)
Intercity services operate to a distance approximately 200 kilometres (124 mi) from Sydney, bounded by Dungog in the north, Scone in the north-west, Bathurst to the west, Goulburn in the south-west and Bomaderry to the south.
Electric services extend from Sydney north to Newcastle, west to Lithgow and south to Port Kembla and Kiama. Most electric services originate from or terminate at Central.
Diesel trains serve the more distant or less populated parts of the Intercity network. Hunter Line services operate from Newcastle to Telarah with some extending to Dungog and Scone. Southern Highlands Line services operate between Campbelltown and Moss Vale with a limited number extending to Sydney and Goulburn. Diesel services also operate on the South Coast Line between Kiama and Bomaderry. The Bathurst Bullet provides a twice daily, limited stop service between Sydney and Bathurst.
^a Some peak services and most weekend services on the South Coast Line run to/from Bondi Junction
^b Some peak services on the Southern Highlands Line run to/from Central. At other times, a change of train is required at Campbelltown
Intercity train fares
The Opal fare system for Intercity services is fully integrated with the Sydney Trains and Sydney Metro networks – trips involving Intercity, Sydney suburban and metro services are calculated as a single fare and there is no interchange penalty. Opal is also valid on bus, ferry, and light rail services in the Greater Sydney region (except for the Southern Highlands) but separate fares apply for these modes. The following table lists Opal fares for reusable smartcards and single trip tickets as:[7]
NSW TrainLink operates several bus routes along corridors where the railway line has been closed to passengers or as a supplement to rail services. These bus services are operated by private sector bus companies contracted by NSW TrainLink.
In July 2014, Transport for NSW commenced the re-tendering process for most of the routes with the previous 24 contracts reorganised into 18 contracts. The new contracts commenced on 1 January 2015 for a five-year period, with an option to extend for three years if performance criteria are met.[12][13] The services operated by Forest Coach Lines and Sunstate Coaches commenced new five-year contracts on 1 July 2016.[14][15]
The full list of coach operators providing services as at January 2015 was:[12][16]
The NSW TrainLink fleet consists of both diesel and electric traction, with the oldest of the fleet being the V sets and the youngest being the H sets, the latter is shared with Sydney Trains. Tangaras operate some peak hour South Coast Line services as far as Wollongong. The entire NSW TrainLink fleet is maintained by Sydney Trains either directly or via a Sydney Trains contract with UGL Rail.
A fleet of 610 D set carriages will be introduced to the NSW TrainLink intercity network. They will replace the V sets and allow the H sets to be transferred to Sydney Trains services. The first was delivered in December 2019.[32][33][34]
In the year ended 30 June 2018, 44.7 million journeys were made on intercity services. There were 1.7 million journeys on regional services. Patronage on intercity services increased by 9 percent over the previous financial year but fell by 1.4 percent for regional services.[39]
Intercity services are considered on-time if they operate within six minutes of their scheduled time.[40] For regional services the benchmark is ten minutes.[41] The target is for 92 percent of intercity services and 78 percent of regional services to operate on-time. In 2017–18 NSW Trains met both the Intercity target and the regional target. However, it failed to meet the Intercity target during peak hours.[42] These results partially reverse a trend of failing to meet punctuality targets. Since the organisation commenced operations in 2013–14, NSW Trains has never met the intercity peak punctuality target.[43][42] Regional train services have achieved their punctuality target twice, in 2015–16 and 2017–18. The 2015–16 result was the first time NSW Trains or its predecessor RailCorp had achieved the target in 13 years.[44][42]
The following table lists patronage figures for the network during the corresponding financial year. Australia's financial years start on 1 July and end on 30 June. Major events that affected the number of journeys made or how patronage is measured are included as notes.
^Newcastle Interchange extension opened in October 2017
^Patronage was lower than previous years due to people staying at home and not taking public transport to school or work during the COVID-19 pandemic
^Patronage reported as 1.7 million journeys but was down by 1.4 percent compared to the previous year
The following table shows the patronage of each line of the NSW TrainLink Intercity network for the year ending 30 June 2022, based on Opal tap on and tap off data.[49]
Quiet carriages are designated carriages where noise made by passengers is requested to be kept to a minimum. Passengers are asked to place mobile phones on silent, move carriages in order to have a conversation with another passenger and use headphones when listening to music.[50]
Quiet carriages are on Intercity services are located in four carriages on 8 car sets, two carriages on 4 car sets and one carriage on two car sets.[51]
Quiet carriages were first introduced on the Central Coast & Newcastle Line in early 2012 as a three-month trial. On 1 September 2012, quiet carriages were permanently introduced and expanded to all intercity services operating on the Blue Mountains and South Coast Line.[50] As of 2013, Quiet carriages had been introduced to the entire NSW TrainLink Intercity network.
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