The NSW Government has announced they have signed a $2.8 Billion contract with Momentum Trains, led by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) for the construction and maintenance of a new Regional Rail Fleet.
There will be 29 new trains delivered, based on the successful Civity design used throughout Europe. This will include 117 new carriages to replace the existing 111 carriages. There will be;
• 10 regional intercity trains (30 carriages in 3 car sets), replacing Endeavour trains,
• 9 short regional trains (27 carriages in 3 car sets), replacing Xplorer trains,
• 10 long regional trains (60 carriages in 6 car sets), replacing XPT trains.
The new short and long regional trains will include both an economy (2-2) and a premium (2-1) class as well as a buffet car and airline style overhead lockers for luggage. The intercity trains will have solely economy seating. There will be USB charging ports, sturdy tray tables, individual overhead reading lights, filtered water and accessible toilets with baby changing facilities in every carriage. Real-time, internal and external visual displays and announcements will help customers keep track of their journey, whilst disabled passengers will benefit from wider doors, single deck carriages and retractable platforms to bridge the gap between the train and the actual platform.
These trains are Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) built by Momentum Trains in Europe, with maintenance to be conducted in Dubbo. Existing government operator NSW TrainLink will continue to operate all services.
Transport NSW Blog 
Remains to be seen if they revert to 160kmh everywhere. Probably not. They can’t even restore service to 1982 levels. The magic of the XPT was to be faster than previous trains – now they cant be phooked.
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Well the reality is that the tracks are not in a condition that would allow for such “speedy” operations. The government is likely to refuse to spend ant money on improving them so its still going to be a slow ride.
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The other disgrace is that back in the late 90s when the Swedish set was in Australia, the interior looked remarkably like the one shown in the render, meaning it has taken us at least 20 years to catch up to Sweden.
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I suspect they will upgrade some routes such as Sydney to Canberra, south coast and Newcastle and beyond for faster times. Not sure this CAF model which is very popular in Europe can be upgraded to 200km/hr in diesel mode though.
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