How a bungle over train seats forced NSW to buy more expensi...

How a bungle over train seats forced NSW to buy more expensive carriages

It later deduced that it would need to buy almost 100 extra carriages to provide more capacity at an increased cost per carriage of up to 63 per cent. The earlier decision to buy carriages with two-by-two seating would have resulted in a 23 per cent cut to capacity on the Central Coast and South Coast lines. In comparison, existing Oscar trains used on those lines have two-by-three seating. “This decision was made despite Transport for NSW knowing that there were existing problems with overcrowding on the intercity trains and that patronage was forecast to increase in the future,” the report said. In addition, the cost of widening tunnels and other work on the Blue Mountains line for the new intercity trains has surged by 72 per cent to $149 million.

It later deduced that it would need to buy almost 100 extra carriages to provide more capacity at an increased cost per carriage of up to 63 per cent.

The earlier decision to buy carriages with two-by-two seating would have resulted in a 23 per cent cut to capacity on the Central Coast and South Coast lines. In comparison, existing Oscar trains used on those lines have two-by-three seating.

“This decision was made despite Transport for NSW knowing that there were existing problems with overcrowding on the intercity trains and that patronage was forecast to increase in the future,” the report said.

In addition, the cost of widening tunnels and other work on the Blue Mountains line for the new intercity trains has surged by 72 per cent to $149 million.