They’re plush , but most of them that I’ve been on are starting to show the inevitable signs of shithead vandalism… gum in the usb ports, tags on the windows. Won’t be long till they get Tangara-ised unfortunately.
Maybe but I still think it’s the better option out of the two if they did more to promote the service and invested into it. As I stated in a previous post, if you had a train of 12 carriages with 20 cabins per carriage you’re quickly coming up to the same or more capacity of a plane.
Considering that the sleeping option is so limited and it’s made of the same train there’s limited space available for passengers. Couple that with a short turnaround window whenever it reaches Central/Southern Cross for refueling and reset it needs more frequency to make it a much better option.
For example a 9pm Central service will reach Southern Cross at around 8am tomorrow morning. It will then be broken down, refueled and reset to be turned into the 10am service to make the return leg back to Central.
If you had extra services available or just a designated service that is designed to run at night you then could fit the train out with more cabins for beds instead of just being given a choice between economy seating or being lucky enough to be booked into one of the few cabins.
Ah, so you just want more capacity overall, not really more frequency.
There is more turnaround time at Central, the carriages go to the XPT Service Centre at Sydnenham and are cleaned and prepared for another train later that day - it's not immediate. The trains that leave in the morning like the soutbound Melbourne XPT, are formed from other carriages.
But yes the turnaround time at Southern Cross is an issue. It doesn't get "broken down" - just cleaned briefly and heads back out in the other direction from the same platform.
The sleeping carriages will be retired this year; the replacement "R sets" do not have sleepers. Despite the fares, sleepers are still loss-making and not a priority for government. So you should enjoy them while they still exist.
I think it’s a combination of both. If you added more trains to the route you could also its frequency too while also increasing capacity. If you had 4 trains per day for example you could do a morning, noon, afternoon and evening train which would also ease the strain on turn around.
On the subject of a sleeper train, if it was marketed as non stop to Melbourne, had 12 carriages with 20 compartments that can accommodate up to 4 people per cabin that’s still around what you get for a plane but it’s far more comfortable and has the advantage of being able to allow passengers to sleep I think the public would be much more interested.
Then you could increase the services being run to add even more to this type of train, so instead of just one service you could run two or three that leaves later on in the night, especially on weekends.
Everytime I have caught it from Hornsby, it has been very loud because of people. And I cannot find a seat during peak unless I force someone to move their bag because there's usually travellers, who sit in one seat and then use the second seat gap to put their luggage bags.
I have only caught it about 7 times so far, so I might just have the bad luck.
Yes, so there are fewer seats per carriage, which may contribute to the crowding people have mentioned. I've only caught them off peak, so each section was almost empty.
Personally I wish the seats were just flat like they are on other trains, as a wider person it's pretty much impossible to sit straight and the armrests make it difficult to lean on one side.
These are the new intercity fleet of trains that are replacing the silver and purple V-Set trains on the Sydney to Central Coast/Newcastle, South Coast and Blue Mountains lines.
I prefer them quite a bit to the old purple V-Sets but they seem to fill up quicker during peak hour, or at least, I find it harder to get a seat. I have noticed people using the luggage storage at least, yet to spot a bike in the bike storage. The toilets and lack of carpet are a vast improvement, and they must be a lot easier for the oldies to get on and off. The sitting backwards is mildly annoying.
I had to take the very early morning V-Sets in the city for work travel and they were really hard to get a seat on, surprisingly - people would take up a whole six-seater arrangement with their luggage, tradies would be lying across a three-seater, and there were genuine unhoused people having a quiet nap. I'd be curious to see if these are any better for that.
Just curious why is the carpet a downside? I liked it as it tended to absorb sounds. The new trains are very loud if a lot of people are talking, or playing their devices on speakerphone as seems to be the current trend.
For me - personally - too hard to clean. How often would they have had dog shit or spew or food trod into them and how often are they steam cleaned? I think it contributed to the kinda rank smell.
I know there’s a similar argument for the fabric seats on the new trains but they’re a lot newer and in theory they don’t have people’s feet on them.
Have you actually been on a Japanese bullet train before or are you just basing it off on what you think? These D set trains are pretty nice, but nowhere near the speed or quality of the Shinkansen.
I mean yeah I've been on the Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, and the Swiss SBB(High speed at certain sections) trains so obviously you can't compare the speed and the leg room, but I'd wager it's comparable in terms of interior quality and the privacy it offers, which is a helluva better than the current A and B sets.
This is a great step towards that direction, especially for a suburban network.
There’s no way you can get bullet trains on suburban networks in any country with stations being so close together. By the time it accelerates to its maximum speed, a lot of stations would have been skipped.
Then maybe there shouldn't be so many stations, or at least different services (more expresses and local trains, with good passing tracks and cross-platform transfers to make it all fit together well).
I’m not sure planes are ever winning the comfy chair contest
With more leg room i can see them getting on the higher end
I was confused by the comparison too. I’d take a push bike over a plane seat when it comes to comfiness
Next Ryan air invention, you're on a push bike seat and you have to pedal the whole way
Better enjoy it before they get damaged!
Yep, we can't have nice things here.
They’re plush , but most of them that I’ve been on are starting to show the inevitable signs of shithead vandalism… gum in the usb ports, tags on the windows. Won’t be long till they get Tangara-ised unfortunately.
I prefer the trains so much more than planes. If the XPT rain more frequently I would gladly get the night service to Melbourne instead of flying
I've travelled to and from Brisbane (ex Sydney) by train recently, in a sleeper carriage. It was quite an experience, mostly good.
It takes 12 hours and costs as much as a flight :(
Maybe but I still think it’s the better option out of the two if they did more to promote the service and invested into it. As I stated in a previous post, if you had a train of 12 carriages with 20 cabins per carriage you’re quickly coming up to the same or more capacity of a plane.
It runs every night, why do you need it more frequent?
Considering that the sleeping option is so limited and it’s made of the same train there’s limited space available for passengers. Couple that with a short turnaround window whenever it reaches Central/Southern Cross for refueling and reset it needs more frequency to make it a much better option.
For example a 9pm Central service will reach Southern Cross at around 8am tomorrow morning. It will then be broken down, refueled and reset to be turned into the 10am service to make the return leg back to Central.
If you had extra services available or just a designated service that is designed to run at night you then could fit the train out with more cabins for beds instead of just being given a choice between economy seating or being lucky enough to be booked into one of the few cabins.
Ah, so you just want more capacity overall, not really more frequency.
There is more turnaround time at Central, the carriages go to the XPT Service Centre at Sydnenham and are cleaned and prepared for another train later that day - it's not immediate. The trains that leave in the morning like the soutbound Melbourne XPT, are formed from other carriages.
But yes the turnaround time at Southern Cross is an issue. It doesn't get "broken down" - just cleaned briefly and heads back out in the other direction from the same platform.
The sleeping carriages will be retired this year; the replacement "R sets" do not have sleepers. Despite the fares, sleepers are still loss-making and not a priority for government. So you should enjoy them while they still exist.
I think it’s a combination of both. If you added more trains to the route you could also its frequency too while also increasing capacity. If you had 4 trains per day for example you could do a morning, noon, afternoon and evening train which would also ease the strain on turn around.
On the subject of a sleeper train, if it was marketed as non stop to Melbourne, had 12 carriages with 20 compartments that can accommodate up to 4 people per cabin that’s still around what you get for a plane but it’s far more comfortable and has the advantage of being able to allow passengers to sleep I think the public would be much more interested.
Then you could increase the services being run to add even more to this type of train, so instead of just one service you could run two or three that leaves later on in the night, especially on weekends.
They need sound dampening in the carriage so you don't have to hear someone chewing food and rustling plastic from a few seats away.
I found the high back forced my neck to an odd angle. I’m average height and found it quite odd.
Prefer the old style seats...more room.
The old trains have more legroom. But I like the foldable table.
Anyway, this is the only aspect in which the Sydney/NSW train is better than the JR. You don't need to pay a premium for a seat like this.
But do the seats turn around?
no, and tbh they feel a bit sardiney. Very upright and not so roomy, but decent. Nothing beats the old soft flipper quads tho!
Everytime I have caught it from Hornsby, it has been very loud because of people. And I cannot find a seat during peak unless I force someone to move their bag because there's usually travellers, who sit in one seat and then use the second seat gap to put their luggage bags.
I have only caught it about 7 times so far, so I might just have the bad luck.
Are they only 2 and 2?
Yes, so there are fewer seats per carriage, which may contribute to the crowding people have mentioned. I've only caught them off peak, so each section was almost empty.
This is why they increased the length to 10 carriages (though each carriage is slightly shorter than V sets, so total seating is still similar).
better than most aircraft’s what?
Lavatory seat
Damn, need to try one of these while they’re still new
What height are you? I found them profoundly uncomfortable, like they're forcing me to lean forward. not sure I could ever doze in them.
Enjoy it before some f*cktard puts their feet on the cushion or soils the seats
Personally I wish the seats were just flat like they are on other trains, as a wider person it's pretty much impossible to sit straight and the armrests make it difficult to lean on one side.
I haven’t been in sydney for a few months, what are these trains for and where are they?
they are trains for people, you can find them on the railway track
Jks, they’re new intercity trains to replace the old purple V sets on the Blue Mountains and Newcastle lines
and OSCars on the South Coast
These are the new intercity fleet of trains that are replacing the silver and purple V-Set trains on the Sydney to Central Coast/Newcastle, South Coast and Blue Mountains lines.
I've never forgotten to get off.
Yay on the new trains tho!
Are these the trains that go to Newcastle or intercity?
I haven't been on a newbie to Sydney train in a couple of years. But if that's what they are like, I may have to make a bread-Top run next week
Newcastle. You can charge your phone and for now, it's great speed (the charging).
I prefer them quite a bit to the old purple V-Sets but they seem to fill up quicker during peak hour, or at least, I find it harder to get a seat. I have noticed people using the luggage storage at least, yet to spot a bike in the bike storage. The toilets and lack of carpet are a vast improvement, and they must be a lot easier for the oldies to get on and off. The sitting backwards is mildly annoying.
I had to take the very early morning V-Sets in the city for work travel and they were really hard to get a seat on, surprisingly - people would take up a whole six-seater arrangement with their luggage, tradies would be lying across a three-seater, and there were genuine unhoused people having a quiet nap. I'd be curious to see if these are any better for that.
Just curious why is the carpet a downside? I liked it as it tended to absorb sounds. The new trains are very loud if a lot of people are talking, or playing their devices on speakerphone as seems to be the current trend.
For me - personally - too hard to clean. How often would they have had dog shit or spew or food trod into them and how often are they steam cleaned? I think it contributed to the kinda rank smell.
I know there’s a similar argument for the fabric seats on the new trains but they’re a lot newer and in theory they don’t have people’s feet on them.
They do look comfy.
better than Jetstar
Is this the new BMT train? I want to go on one. 😊
These feel and look like the seats in bullet trains, they're so comfortable!
Have you actually been on a Japanese bullet train before or are you just basing it off on what you think? These D set trains are pretty nice, but nowhere near the speed or quality of the Shinkansen.
There's a reason these are the shitcansens...
I mean yeah I've been on the Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, and the Swiss SBB(High speed at certain sections) trains so obviously you can't compare the speed and the leg room, but I'd wager it's comparable in terms of interior quality and the privacy it offers, which is a helluva better than the current A and B sets.
This is a great step towards that direction, especially for a suburban network.
We'll do anything except get faster trains, huh?
Travel in comfort and style for a whole 2 hour trip that would take a train in any other developed country 20 minutes. Great 👍
There’s no way you can get bullet trains on suburban networks in any country with stations being so close together. By the time it accelerates to its maximum speed, a lot of stations would have been skipped.
Then maybe there shouldn't be so many stations, or at least different services (more expresses and local trains, with good passing tracks and cross-platform transfers to make it all fit together well).