A $447 million injection to extend the life of the ageing Tangara train fleet will keep them on the tracks for another 12 years as the government investigates building replacements locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“NSW workers are great at building trains and under this government we will build trains here again,” Premier Chris Minns said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s going to take time, but we’re determined to do it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To buy time, 55 Tangara trains, which make up a quarter of the Sydney Trains fleet, will receive technology upgrades beginning in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The trains entered service in 1988 and they are the biggest contributors to maintenance faults across the rail network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“One day, people in cities all over the world could be travelling on a train like this,” an advertisement told NSW residents at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Of course, we already can, on the Tangara,” it stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Tangara fleet already had its service life extended to 2027 before Wednesday’s announcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some $17.5 million will also go to developing a strategic business case to build a replacement fleet locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Supporting local manufacturing in government procurement was a key plank of Labor’s 2023 election campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Minns said the funding was a modest investment that would eventually unlock a huge boost to local jobs and industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We’ve had a decade of missed opportunities and thousands of jobs offshored, while we purchased trains, trams and ferries filled with defects, faults and failures,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Transport Minister Jo Haylen said the Tangara extension was vital to supporting services until new trains were built locally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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