‘Sad goodbye': End of era for workhorse of NSW railways
Known by commuters for their purple-coloured seats, the workhorses of NSW's railways have been running on the line from Sydney to the Central Coast and Newcastle since June 1970.
Pushed to the limit of their working lives, the double-deck V-sets will finally be completely replaced on the line by the long-delayed new Mariyung train fleet, which has cost taxpayers more than $4 billion.
Train driver Ben Heavey, 23, said it would be a 'sad goodbye' when a V-set makes the last run between Sydney and Newcastle on Friday night.
'But we'll be moving forward for our passengers with better safety and access for our disabled people,' he said. 'At the end of the day, I think people will learn to love the Mariyung.'
The new intercity trains have extra legroom, high seat backs, tray tables for laptops and charging ports for mobile devices.
Heavey, who has had a passion for trains since he was a kid growing up in Macquarie Fields, started as a cleaner on the railways at the age of 18 after leaving school. Within eight months he was a guard, before switching 18 months later to become a driver of V-sets and newer train types.
Now also training drivers, Heavey found it more rewarding to complete a long-distance trip driving a V-set because they required greater focus. 'You feel like you have to use your brain more,' he said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
End of the line for Sydney's iconic V-set trains
National Sydney's V-set trains have finally been retired from the Sydney-Central Coast commute after 55 years and an estimated 140 million kilometres. Loading
The Age
4 days ago
- The Age
End of the line for Sydney's iconic V-set trains
National Sydney's V-set trains have finally been retired from the Sydney-Central Coast commute after 55 years and an estimated 140 million kilometres. Loading
The Advertiser
5 days ago
- The Advertiser
Half a century of service ends as last v-set trains in the Hunter saluted into retirement
The last of the state's 21 v-set trains working on the Hunter line will depart Sydney's Central station at 9.20pm on Friday, bound for Newcastle. It will mark the end of the months-long phase out of the former intercity fleet with new South Korean Mariyung trains, the first of which left Newcastle in December. The train operators' union, which raised serious concerns about the safety of the trains when they arrived, and complained that their off-the-shelf design was ill-suited to the work for which they were intended, told the Herald on Thursday that, notwithstanding some technical teething issues, the new fleet was safe, if not especially comfortable for passengers. "We had no input in that train," NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) branch president Craig Turner said. "Otherwise, there would have been differences." Mr Turner, who travels regularly on the Mariyung fleet, said the union still had some concerns about updates to the trains' software, which largely dealt with passenger comforts, such as cabin temperatures and device charging, but that, in the main, the trains were safe and reliable. "We insisted no train would go into service unless the RTBU and the train crew were happy," he said. "From our point of view, there is no change - everything works the same - it is just a different train." Passengers have complained, since the new trains entered service late last year, that the fixed seating position, cabin temperatures and unreliable device connectivity were a step back from the dated, but comfortable, v-set trains. But, as the last of the old intercity fleet is consigned to the scrapheap, having spent 55 years in service, Sydney Trains boss Matt Longland and the state government have described the transition as the "end of a proud chapter in our transport history, and the beginning of a new one". The first v-set trains hit the tracks in June, 1970, 11 months after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, and connected to Newcastle in 1984. The state estimates that, in half a century of service, the 21-train fleet has travelled 140 million kilometres. "They were space age for their time and it's almost unfathomable that they have made it to the moon 17 times each in equivalent kilometres during over five decades on the tracks," Transport Minister John Graham said. The former fleet has been replaced by 13 10-car Mariyung sets and six eight-car sets, Mr Turner said, while the outer suburban cars - commonly called OSCARS or H-set trains - would continue to operate between the Central Coast and North Shore line. Mr Turner said the union had a commitment from the Minns government that future train fleets, set to replace the ageing suburban Tangara electric sets introduced in the late 1980s by 2027, would be built onshore. "They will build all future fleets here and when the Tangaras are retired, hopefully, that contract will go up to Newcastle," he said. The v-sets were built in Granville by Commonwealth Engineering between 1970 and 1989, and were described as "the most luxurious commuter stock in the world" when they entered service. In a joint statement by Mr Graham, Mr Longland and Regional Transport Minister Jenny Aitchison, the state said it had committed to buying the replacement of the Tangara fleet with a 50 per cent local content target for designing, building, and maintaining the new fleet. V-sets will continue to run on the Blue Mountains line before they are replaced by Mariyungs. The South Coast line will get Mariyung trains after their introduction to the Blue Mountains. The last of the state's 21 v-set trains working on the Hunter line will depart Sydney's Central station at 9.20pm on Friday, bound for Newcastle. It will mark the end of the months-long phase out of the former intercity fleet with new South Korean Mariyung trains, the first of which left Newcastle in December. The train operators' union, which raised serious concerns about the safety of the trains when they arrived, and complained that their off-the-shelf design was ill-suited to the work for which they were intended, told the Herald on Thursday that, notwithstanding some technical teething issues, the new fleet was safe, if not especially comfortable for passengers. "We had no input in that train," NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) branch president Craig Turner said. "Otherwise, there would have been differences." Mr Turner, who travels regularly on the Mariyung fleet, said the union still had some concerns about updates to the trains' software, which largely dealt with passenger comforts, such as cabin temperatures and device charging, but that, in the main, the trains were safe and reliable. "We insisted no train would go into service unless the RTBU and the train crew were happy," he said. "From our point of view, there is no change - everything works the same - it is just a different train." Passengers have complained, since the new trains entered service late last year, that the fixed seating position, cabin temperatures and unreliable device connectivity were a step back from the dated, but comfortable, v-set trains. But, as the last of the old intercity fleet is consigned to the scrapheap, having spent 55 years in service, Sydney Trains boss Matt Longland and the state government have described the transition as the "end of a proud chapter in our transport history, and the beginning of a new one". The first v-set trains hit the tracks in June, 1970, 11 months after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, and connected to Newcastle in 1984. The state estimates that, in half a century of service, the 21-train fleet has travelled 140 million kilometres. "They were space age for their time and it's almost unfathomable that they have made it to the moon 17 times each in equivalent kilometres during over five decades on the tracks," Transport Minister John Graham said. The former fleet has been replaced by 13 10-car Mariyung sets and six eight-car sets, Mr Turner said, while the outer suburban cars - commonly called OSCARS or H-set trains - would continue to operate between the Central Coast and North Shore line. Mr Turner said the union had a commitment from the Minns government that future train fleets, set to replace the ageing suburban Tangara electric sets introduced in the late 1980s by 2027, would be built onshore. "They will build all future fleets here and when the Tangaras are retired, hopefully, that contract will go up to Newcastle," he said. The v-sets were built in Granville by Commonwealth Engineering between 1970 and 1989, and were described as "the most luxurious commuter stock in the world" when they entered service. In a joint statement by Mr Graham, Mr Longland and Regional Transport Minister Jenny Aitchison, the state said it had committed to buying the replacement of the Tangara fleet with a 50 per cent local content target for designing, building, and maintaining the new fleet. V-sets will continue to run on the Blue Mountains line before they are replaced by Mariyungs. The South Coast line will get Mariyung trains after their introduction to the Blue Mountains. The last of the state's 21 v-set trains working on the Hunter line will depart Sydney's Central station at 9.20pm on Friday, bound for Newcastle. It will mark the end of the months-long phase out of the former intercity fleet with new South Korean Mariyung trains, the first of which left Newcastle in December. The train operators' union, which raised serious concerns about the safety of the trains when they arrived, and complained that their off-the-shelf design was ill-suited to the work for which they were intended, told the Herald on Thursday that, notwithstanding some technical teething issues, the new fleet was safe, if not especially comfortable for passengers. "We had no input in that train," NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) branch president Craig Turner said. "Otherwise, there would have been differences." Mr Turner, who travels regularly on the Mariyung fleet, said the union still had some concerns about updates to the trains' software, which largely dealt with passenger comforts, such as cabin temperatures and device charging, but that, in the main, the trains were safe and reliable. "We insisted no train would go into service unless the RTBU and the train crew were happy," he said. "From our point of view, there is no change - everything works the same - it is just a different train." Passengers have complained, since the new trains entered service late last year, that the fixed seating position, cabin temperatures and unreliable device connectivity were a step back from the dated, but comfortable, v-set trains. But, as the last of the old intercity fleet is consigned to the scrapheap, having spent 55 years in service, Sydney Trains boss Matt Longland and the state government have described the transition as the "end of a proud chapter in our transport history, and the beginning of a new one". The first v-set trains hit the tracks in June, 1970, 11 months after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, and connected to Newcastle in 1984. The state estimates that, in half a century of service, the 21-train fleet has travelled 140 million kilometres. "They were space age for their time and it's almost unfathomable that they have made it to the moon 17 times each in equivalent kilometres during over five decades on the tracks," Transport Minister John Graham said. The former fleet has been replaced by 13 10-car Mariyung sets and six eight-car sets, Mr Turner said, while the outer suburban cars - commonly called OSCARS or H-set trains - would continue to operate between the Central Coast and North Shore line. Mr Turner said the union had a commitment from the Minns government that future train fleets, set to replace the ageing suburban Tangara electric sets introduced in the late 1980s by 2027, would be built onshore. "They will build all future fleets here and when the Tangaras are retired, hopefully, that contract will go up to Newcastle," he said. The v-sets were built in Granville by Commonwealth Engineering between 1970 and 1989, and were described as "the most luxurious commuter stock in the world" when they entered service. In a joint statement by Mr Graham, Mr Longland and Regional Transport Minister Jenny Aitchison, the state said it had committed to buying the replacement of the Tangara fleet with a 50 per cent local content target for designing, building, and maintaining the new fleet. V-sets will continue to run on the Blue Mountains line before they are replaced by Mariyungs. The South Coast line will get Mariyung trains after their introduction to the Blue Mountains. The last of the state's 21 v-set trains working on the Hunter line will depart Sydney's Central station at 9.20pm on Friday, bound for Newcastle. It will mark the end of the months-long phase out of the former intercity fleet with new South Korean Mariyung trains, the first of which left Newcastle in December. The train operators' union, which raised serious concerns about the safety of the trains when they arrived, and complained that their off-the-shelf design was ill-suited to the work for which they were intended, told the Herald on Thursday that, notwithstanding some technical teething issues, the new fleet was safe, if not especially comfortable for passengers. "We had no input in that train," NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) branch president Craig Turner said. "Otherwise, there would have been differences." Mr Turner, who travels regularly on the Mariyung fleet, said the union still had some concerns about updates to the trains' software, which largely dealt with passenger comforts, such as cabin temperatures and device charging, but that, in the main, the trains were safe and reliable. "We insisted no train would go into service unless the RTBU and the train crew were happy," he said. "From our point of view, there is no change - everything works the same - it is just a different train." Passengers have complained, since the new trains entered service late last year, that the fixed seating position, cabin temperatures and unreliable device connectivity were a step back from the dated, but comfortable, v-set trains. But, as the last of the old intercity fleet is consigned to the scrapheap, having spent 55 years in service, Sydney Trains boss Matt Longland and the state government have described the transition as the "end of a proud chapter in our transport history, and the beginning of a new one". The first v-set trains hit the tracks in June, 1970, 11 months after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, and connected to Newcastle in 1984. The state estimates that, in half a century of service, the 21-train fleet has travelled 140 million kilometres. "They were space age for their time and it's almost unfathomable that they have made it to the moon 17 times each in equivalent kilometres during over five decades on the tracks," Transport Minister John Graham said. The former fleet has been replaced by 13 10-car Mariyung sets and six eight-car sets, Mr Turner said, while the outer suburban cars - commonly called OSCARS or H-set trains - would continue to operate between the Central Coast and North Shore line. Mr Turner said the union had a commitment from the Minns government that future train fleets, set to replace the ageing suburban Tangara electric sets introduced in the late 1980s by 2027, would be built onshore. "They will build all future fleets here and when the Tangaras are retired, hopefully, that contract will go up to Newcastle," he said. The v-sets were built in Granville by Commonwealth Engineering between 1970 and 1989, and were described as "the most luxurious commuter stock in the world" when they entered service. In a joint statement by Mr Graham, Mr Longland and Regional Transport Minister Jenny Aitchison, the state said it had committed to buying the replacement of the Tangara fleet with a 50 per cent local content target for designing, building, and maintaining the new fleet. V-sets will continue to run on the Blue Mountains line before they are replaced by Mariyungs. The South Coast line will get Mariyung trains after their introduction to the Blue Mountains.
