Sydney Trains locks rear carriages on Tangara fleet to deter train surfing

Passengers are being barred from using the rear carriages of all Tangara trains to prevent people breaking into the crew cabs and riding on the back of them.

The policy was already in force on selected night-time and weekend services, but has now been applied to every Tangara train for the duration of the school holidays.

More than two years have passed since the government announced a $447 million program to improve security and extend the life of the aging Tangara fleet by up to 12 years.

To date, only one out of 55 Tangara trains has received the full refurbishment, including a CCTV system.

It means passengers, including those travelling on grand final weekend, will find the rear carriages of Tangaras locked and the lights turned off.

'Commuters first, dropkicks second'

Shadow NSW Transport Minister Natalie Ward said it was "embarrassing" the government had effectively surrendered to vandals and train-surfers.

"It can't be 'lights out' for commuters. You can't give up on this," she said.

"Transport policy has to be commuters first, dropkicks second."

However, state Transport Minister John Graham said misbehaviour on trains risked derailing the schedule, causing more inconvenience for commuters in the long run.

He said locking up the rear carriages was a "pragmatic step".

"It's one we don't want to take, but reliability is our number one focus."

Riding a social media wave

Train-surfing or "buffer riding" has been an ongoing issue on the Tangaras, fuelled by social media videos where people post and boast about their "achievements".

The lack of CCTV on the fleet has made the trains especially susceptible to vandalism, as has the "buffer": a platform at the rear of the Tangaras from which train surfers can jump from the platform.

To eliminate the dangerous practice, Sydney Trains fitted slanted "nose cones" onto all the buffers, to deprive train surfers of a flat surface.

They have had some success.

On the T4 Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra line, there were only three incidents between July and September, whereas there were 127 cases of buffer riding in the 12 months prior.

"Those cones have made a big difference," Mr Graham said.

However, Rail, Tram and Bus Union secretary Toby Warnes said the internal door to the crew cab was being repeatedly targeted.

"I've seen some of the social media videos myself," he said.

"It doesn't take much to open that. And once you have opened that, it's not then difficult to open the actual door to get out onto the [rear] platform."

He said people hoping to "big note" themselves were risking their own lives, and the safety of others.

"It puts the people who are operating the train in danger and the general public too, particularly if it's being done near stations," he said.

Internal Sydney Trains documents seen by the ABC suggest the organisation is scrambling to install new locks on crew cab doors.

Plain-clothes security officers are also patrolling some Tangara trains.

Reviving an aging fleet

The once-futuristic Tangara was introduced in 1988 and will remain in service until the mid 2030s, while a replacement is built.

The Minns government plans to build the new fleet in the Hunter, where the Tangara was manufactured, thanks to a $12 billion investment over 15 years.

However, the state opposition has criticised the speed of the Tangara refurbishment program, which includes computer, security and customer information system upgrades.

Ms Ward said the $447 million program had only refurbished a single train since it was announced in June 2024.

"It's a very long, slow process that doesn't seem to fix the problem," she said.

Mr Graham defended the speed of the program, saying the upgrade to each train would be comprehensive.

"It's so significant that [we're] testing this train as if it were a new train on the network," he said.

Sydney Trains said it hoped to have two more refurbished Tangaras in service by the end of the year.