New NSW trains

The NSW government announced today that they will be replacing the old intercity trains with new trains. See here and here for details.

As a non-driver who loves public transport, I'm always excited to hear about new trains! Trains are awesome! I rarely use intercity services but with the exception of the Oscar trains serving the routes, the others are old and quite horrible. I find the seats to be uncomfortable and movement inside the carriages is restricted, making getting on and off at peak times difficult.

I love the fact that the government is going to pay for the trains itself, probably getting its own loans for it. Public/private financing is simply a way of keeping government debt off the books and funneling huge amounts of taxpayer money into the hands of lawyers, consultants, financiers and the like. The private institutions have to get a loan anyway and the rates they are charged are higher than what the government would be charged, ensuring that the overall costs will be higher. Also, if the project happens to make money, the private companies will keep it, in the far more common outcome that it doesn't the taxpayer ends up on the hook for it as the infrastructure needs to be finished.

The proposed design for the trains seems OK, double deckers fit the network and 4 seats across the width of the train allows for more width in the seats, which is also fine. I'm not a big fan of the idea of premium seating, the journeys aren't that long.

I would prefer if the trains were built here and feel that surely the Waratahs could be adjusted to suit the purpose better. Why send so much money overseas? Surely it will do more good paying our workers and their families? I do have some sympathy with the government's desire to buy a train off the shelf, we've been ordering new trains for decades in NSW and they constantly come in well after proposed delivery dates and well over budget. New trains take a lot of testing to get right.