Australia: NSW’s $2 billion new trains are too wide to get through tunnels

NSW’s $2 billion new trains are too wide to get through tunnels:

A NEW fleet of trains promises to offer greater comfort and safety. But a glaring error means they can’t even operate properly.

THE NSW Government has an embarrassing problem with $2 billion worth of new trains that are on order — they’re too wide to go through the tunnels.

Whereas the current trains are 2.9m wide, the new models being built in South Korea are 20cm wider. That small difference could have a big impact.

It means the new trains could collide with the tunnel walls on their way up to the world famous Blue Mountains.

But Transport for NSW (TfNSW), the Government body that manages the state’s rail system, has come up with a cunning plan. It has proposed simply relaxing current safety standards. In addition, 10 tunnels built in the 1900s will be partially modified to allow the new trains to run.

H/t reader kevin a.

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