Presently, Gloucester has three services each way, but the NSW Government has announced that one of these is to be by coach.

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For some time, the NSW Government has been promising that the aged XPT trains which service Gloucester will be replaced by a new fleet of modern trains.

“In February 2019, NSW Government awarded a contract to Momentum Trains, an international consortium to deliver the Regional Rail Project,” Transport for NSW (TfNSW) explains on its website.

“The Regional Rail Project contract includes the design, build, and maintenance of the new Regional Rail fleet and also the design, build, maintenance and operation of the new purpose-built Mindyarra Maintenance Centre in Dubbo.

“A timeline for the delivery of the balance of the trains will be confirmed once the manufacturing testing and assurance phase has been completed.”

There is no information about when the new trains might come into service, particularly on the North Coast line through Gloucester.

News of the Area asked TfNSW when Gloucester residents are likely to see the new trains pulling into the station, and received the following reply: “The fleet of XPT, XPLORER and Endeavour trains will be replaced with trains that will provide new safety features, improved comfort, accessibility, facilities, and reliability for passengers who travel from many NSW regional centres to Sydney, as well as Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane.

“The new Regional Rail fleet, purchased in 2019, is continuing to arrive with three trains now in Australia.

“Throughout 2025, we will see more trains arriving in Australia, including both the six-car long regional, and three-car short regional trains.”

Again, no specific dates were provided, however on 19 February, Jenny Aitchison, Minister for Regional Transport, announced that the Government was going to spend $40.3 million over five years to upgrade and refurbish the existing, more than 40-years-old, XPT fleet.

“To allow for these essential upgrades of the XPT fleet, NSW TrainLink will operate two out of the six daily rail services between Grafton and Sydney with premium coaches for approximately 12 months from mid-March 2025,” the Minister said.

The services where buses will replace the trains are Route 36 from Grafton to Sydney and Route 35 Sydney to Grafton.

Route 36 normally departs Gloucester at 10.56am and Route 35 normally arrives at Gloucester at 4.22pm.

By John WATTS