If you’re looking for the official guide you can find it here.
I was encouraged to put together this guide by a mate who recently had cause to take his bike on the train from Sydney to Newcastle and reached out to me to understand the best way to do this. This was pre-Mariyung launch and so I explained that there was a couple of ways to approach this problem but broadly, he had the following options:
- Take the XPT – Bad idea – this would require putting your bike in a special cardboard bike box, making a phone call and paying extra money.
- Take the V-set – Bad idea – V-Sets have comfy seats and a certain mid-century style but they lack room for bikes. There are bike hooks in one carriage per 4 car set but they can be hard to find in the rush of boarding, are extremely awkward to use and wouldn’t fit his cargo bike anyway.
- Take the Oscar – Good idea!
Up until fairly recently Oscars rarely ran north of Wyong but that is no longer the case. Generally, I don’t like spending the 3 hour trip on one because of the narrower and less comfortable seats, but there’s no denying that they have much larger and more usable toilets, wheelchair/pram accessible seating and, crucially, space to park a cargo bike. It’s as simple as wheeling it on and parking it in the vestibule, much as you would on any suburban trainset. Not ideal on trains that are very crowded and have lot of people getting on and off all the time, but perfectly fine for the run up to Newcastle.
The only problem was, how was a layperson like my mate suppose to know all of this AND know before they got the station what kind of rolling stock would be operating the service they were hoping to catch.
Enter ‘The Unofficial Guide to Taking your Bike on the train in NSW’.
At the Station
Before you even think about leaving the house to head on your trip, the first decision you need to make is if you’re going to take your bike with you or leave it at the station. If you’re leaving it at the station, you’ve got three options:
- Locking your bike to a standard bike loop – If no bike loops are available, consider a friendly fence post or parking sign. At most stations I wouldn’t recommend doing this overnight.
- Locking your bike up in a secure shed – TfNSW have started rolling out secure bike parking. It’s undercover, has 24 hour CCTV and requires swiping a registered opal card to access. I haven’t used these but they seem pretty great and I would definitely give one a go overnight. You can find out where they are and how to register your opal card for access here. I’ve spotted them in the wild at West Ryde and Schofields.
- Locking your bike up in a private ‘bike locker’ – These are older and apparently there’s 830 of them across 110 train stations. You might have spotted the big green boxes around and about. These can be privately hired on a month-by-month basis here, which probably isn’t much use unless you’re doing so as part of a regular commute.
Okay, so you’ve decided to take your bike with you. You’ll be pleased to know that this is free of charge on all Opal accepting train services run by Sydney Trains or NSW Trainlink. Gone are the days of theoretically having to pay a child’s fare for your bike during peak hour!
Next step, getting onto the platform. In days gone by, the CityRail map used to have little wheelchair icons to indicate which stations had a lift (or, presumably, a ramp). That’s gone in the name of legibility so now you’ll have to head to the TfNSW website and look up your train station. Scroll down to accessibility and if it says ‘Lift’ than there is lifted access from the street onto the platform. If not, you’ll probably need to be able to drag your bike up and/or down the stairs but you might get lucky with a ramp (Hi Broadmeadow).
Suburban Sydney Trains
If you’re planning on boarding a suburban Sydney Train there really isn’t too much to worry about. Some trains will have slightly more roomy vestibules but all will accommodate you and your bike. There are a couple of standard approaches I’ve witnessed to taking your bike on the train:
- Sit in the side facing seats vestibule with your bike in front of you
- Stand between the doors holding onto your bike while it rests against a pole
- Kickstand the bike upright or secure it to a pole and then sit down in the vestibule
There’s pros and cons to each but I think getting as far away from the doors as possible is going to make your trip more pleasant, particularly if you’re expecting the train to be somewhat crowded.
Sydney Metro
Much the same as taking your bike on Sydney Trains. The first or last doors have some seats that flip up and tend to have a bit more room. Watch out these things can get crammed in peak hour.
Intercity NSW Trains
Okay this is where it gets interesting. The first thing you’ll need to find out is what type of train will be operating your service. The easiest way to do this is to use one of the various trip planning apps. All these apps use the same data feed so just pick one that shows the information you want in a format you like. I personally use and recommend TripView. AnyTrip is also very cool but probably more so for enthusiasts than the casual user. If the trip planning tool you are using doesn’t tell you what kind of train is running your service, pick a different one.
There are about half a dozen different kinds of intercity rolling stock which will affect how you take your bike onboard and how annoying doing so is. You can check out their features and even floorplans on this handy webpage. Here they are in approximate order from worst to best experience:
- V-Set (also known as an ‘Intercity train’)
The V-Set is hands down my favourite train. They’re the oldest passenger trains running in NSW dating as far back as 1970 and they ooze mid-century class. I’ve heard them described as the ‘poor-man’s business class’ for the well-padded seats, carpeted walls and coat hooks. Just try to avoid using the bathroom and don’t forget you’ll need to pull the train door open when you’re getting off!
The V-Set might show up in your app of choice as an ‘Intercity train’. They can be found travelling to Newcastle or the Blue Mountains. Expect them to be retired from service by 2026 (although they said that about 2023 and here we are…).
One carriage per 4 cars should have bike hooks. Good luck figuring out which one it is. I haven’t actually used these before but I’ve seen them and it looks hard. Everything on a V-Set is pre-DDA compliance so don’t expect much room to turn around and know that while you’re trying to do anything you’ll be blocking a bunch of other passengers from getting past you.
If I need to ride a V-Set with my bike I usually jump in the first or last door of the train and stay in the vestibule. People can squeeze past as they get on or off the train and there’s no access into the guards compartment so you don’t get through traffic.
Avoid taking your bike on a V-Set if possible and don’t even think about it with a cargo bike, touring bike or anything else oversize.
- Endeavour Railcar
The Endeavours can be found on the South Coast Line (south of Kiama), the Hunter Line, the Southern Highlands Line and the Blue Mountains Line if you catch one of two daily Bathurst Bullets in each direction.
These trains lack any seating in the vestibule and have small doors, so they aren’t ideal for bikes. That said, they do have luggage and wheelchair areas that might double as bike parking, but I haven’t used them before so I can’t comment. Thankfully the volumes of passengers getting on and off trips run by endeavours should be very low so if you have to park your bike somewhere it partially blocks people and get up each time the train stops, it shouldn’t be a big deal.
Avoid an Endeavour if you can but don’t fret if you can’t.
- Hunter Railcar
The Hunter railcars have been plying the Hunter line for almost 20 years and are basically a single deck diesel version of the millennium trains. They’ve got large doors and side seating in the vestibule. Taking your bike on one of these is basically the same as taking it on a suburban train.
Tick. Just like in Sydney!
- OSCAR (also known as an H-Set)
The Outer Suburban Railcars were brought in for shorter distance intercity trips that experience high peak demand and needed larger capacity trains. They were originally designed to run to Wollongong and Wyong but can now be found running as far as Newcastle.
They’re from this century so expect wheelchair accessible toilets, automatic doors and side facing seating in the vestibule. Taking your bike on one of these is basically the same as taking it on a suburban train.
Tick. Just like in Sydney!
- Mariyung (also known as a D-Set)
The much-delayed new intercity Mariyung trains take their name from the Dharug word for Emu. It’s a clever pun because not only are emus fast and graceful over long distances, but the 3-letter acronym EMU in railway parlance stands for Electric Multiple Unit, the type of train the Mariyung is.
Since December 2024 the Mariyungs are finally in operation. You can find them plying the route between Sydney and Newcastle and they should be rolled out to the Blue Mountains Line to replace the V-Sets in the coming year/s.
These trains are the crème of the crop, bringing intercity rail transport in NSW into the 2010s! Expect to find USB-A ports, 240V wall sockets and folding tray tables. Unlike on all the other trains listed here, you’ll actually be able to enjoy those features because the Mariyungs have legit bike racks! You can park your bike just like you’re at the shops, stow your luggage like you’re on a train to the airport (not in Sydney though lol) and sit down in a seat like a normal person.
The Mariyungs are made up of either 4 or 6 car sets which can be grouped together to create 4, 6, 8 or 10 car trains. My understanding is that each 4 or 6 car set will have one carriage with bike parking, so if your train is 8 or 10 cars long it should have two.
To spot the bike parking just walk (or ride) alongside the train until you see a larger-than-life size picture of a bike. Board through these doors, put your bike in the rack and you’re good to go.
Now this is living!
Regional NSW Trains
Okay that’s the relatively good news. If you’re heading further afield than the intercity rail network (i.e past Scone, Dungog, Bathurst or Goulburn) you’re going to need to mess with the NSW Trainlink checked luggage rules. These trains require seat reservations to travel on and your bike will need to be booked along as checked luggage. This generally isn’t free and can’t be done online; you’ll need to call up.
There are also draconian rules about how your bike must be packed that seem to be designed to discourage people from bothering to do so.
Be aware that NSW Trainlink staff take these rules seriously. I have seen a person be told off for attempting to take a folded-up Brompton style bike onto the train and place it in the luggage rack.
Yes, it fit in the luggage rack.
Yes, it was smaller and lighter than other luggage in the luggage rack.
No, they did not require assistance from staff, and
No, it did not unduly inconvenience other passengers.
However, the rules state that:
- A limit of one (1) bicycle per passenger is permitted.
- Reservations are essential.
- Bicycles will be stored in the checked luggage area.
The bicycle (including protective containers) must weigh less than 20 kilograms to be accepted. If the bicycle exceeds 20 kilograms in weight, it cannot be accepted.
Push Bicycles:
- Bicycles must be contained in a cardboard bicycle box or commercially produced protective bag to protect the bicycle during transport.
- Bicycle boxes can be obtained from bicycle retailers or provided upon request.
- When packing the bicycle, ensure that no part of it protrudes.
- Boxes must not be torn or damaged to ensure the safe transportation of the bicycle.
- Maximum dimensions when packed: 135cm long x 80cm high x 24cm wide.
- A supplementary charge of $12.10 applies for push bicycles.
Folding Bicycles:
- Folding bicycles must be packed in a commercially produced protective cover bag.
- Maximum dimensions when folded: 79cm long x 59cm high x 36cm wide.
- No additional charges apply for carrying folding bicycles.
The passenger in question didn’t have a commercially produced protective cover bag and hadn’t called up to make a special (free) reservation for their folding bike and so was in breach of the rules.
That said, NSW Trainlink have tacitly acknowledged the current system doesn’t work very well for cyclists. Stage 1 of a trial to allow ‘roll-on’ bikes on the XPT was completed in 2024 and Stage 2 is planned for 2025.
Hopefully in the near future there will be a more legible system, something like a bike rack in the luggage car would work fine, I’m sure.
The future of regional travel
The R-Sets are due to enter service from this year and we can only assume that they will have dedicated bicycle storage facilities for passengers. These trains are intended to replace the Xplorers, XPTs and Endeavour railcars over the coming couple of years.
The Regional Rail project website has a FAQ around bike racks which says:
The new regional intercity trains will have dedicated bike spaces.
The new long and short regional trains have been designed for bicycles to be stored in line with current NSW TrainLink procedures, but these methods will be reviewed before the new regional fleet is introduced. As part of this review process, concept testing is being carried out regarding the feasibility and viability of taking and storing bikes on-board without boxing.
Sounds promising, if not entirely certain. This should mean, in theory, that by 2028 you’ll be able to seamlessly take your bike on any passenger train service in NSW – tourist trains and land cruises notwithstanding, hooray! Bring on the rail trails!
Addendum: Most of the above has been put together from my own experience, if I’ve got anything wrong or you’ve got some better ideas on how to roll onto trains in NSW I’d love to hear about it!
