Teralba Chosen For NSW’s Next Train Factory As Hunter Jobs Return

A former mine site at Teralba has been named the preferred location for NSW’s next train factory, putting the Hunter at the centre of a $12 billion program intended to replace Sydney’s ageing suburban fleet. The announcement on 20 October 2026 begins a site investigation and procurement process, rather than construction.

Teralba was chosen over the NSW Government-owned Broadmeadow Locomotive Depot after a preliminary assessment of both Hunter locations. The government says the larger former Macquarie Coal site can fit manufacturing, assembly, commissioning and on-site dynamic testing, with room for future expansion.

The proposed factory would support up to 780 construction jobs and about 550 ongoing jobs across the facility and its supply chains, according to government forecasts. For Sydney passengers, its first major task would be building replacements for the Tangara fleet, with entry into service expected in the early 2030s, subject to approvals and procurement.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said the decision was intended to restore an industrial capability that had moved offshore. “For more than a century, workers in the Hunter proudly built the trains that carried millions of people around Sydney. Then those jobs were sent overseas. We’re bringing them back, because we believe NSW should build more of the things we need right here at home,” he said.

Business Hunter chief executive Bob Hawes welcomed the preferred-site decision as the type of industry development the region has sought. “It digs into a deep vein of experience and opportunity that the region knows it can deliver on, with our skills and workforce here as well as the developed industries that already exist that can service and operate in this environment,” he said.

The choice connects a former mining site with the Hunter’s long rail-manufacturing history. Engineering firm A. Goninan & Co began in 1899, supplied 100 coal wagons to Rhondda Colliery at Teralba in 1900, and later built Tangara trains at Broadmeadow between 1986 and 1998.

Broadmeadow therefore carried the stronger historical link to the original Tangara production line, but Teralba offered the more flexible operating footprint. A train factory needs space to move carriages through production, test onboard systems and commission completed sets before they enter passenger service.

The Future Fleet Program is designed to keep work flowing beyond a single contract. After the Tangara replacements, the government plans to use the pipeline for Millennium and OSCAR replacements in the 2040s, followed by the Waratah fleet in the 2050s.

The program includes a minimum 50 per cent local-content target for future rolling-stock contracts, covering Australian, NSW and New Zealand businesses and jobs involved in designing, building and maintaining the trains. That target is not a promise that every component will be made domestically, and the forecast job numbers are not guaranteed employment.

Hunter Manufacturing Awards chair Jacqui Daley said the region had the skills and supplier base to handle major rail projects. She has pointed to Cardiff-based Downer’s experience manufacturing and maintaining the Waratah fleet, arguing that resilient local supply chains would reduce exposure to global disruption.

The immediate bridge to the new factory is already being built at Cardiff. A $447 million Tangara Life Extension Program is creating two production lines, employing about 100 qualified workers and 20 apprentices, and extending the lives of 55 eight-car Tangara trains by more than a decade.

That work matters because new trains will not arrive as soon as the preferred site is announced. The state still needs to complete a full business case, select a manufacturer, finalise the design, secure the site, construct the facility, and test and commission the first trains.

Transport for NSW’s indicative program places Tangara replacement procurement by March 2027, with detailed design and facility construction expected during 2027 to 2030, subject to approvals. Expressions of interest from firms to design and build the next fleet opened in September 2026 and were scheduled to close on 10 November 2026.

For Hunter residents, apprentices and suppliers, the next meaningful signals will be procurement documents, manufacturer selection and local supply-chain opportunities. For people living near Teralba and Boolaroo, the important processes will be planning, environmental assessment, traffic planning and land-acquisition negotiations.

The site decision is not final. Detailed investigations and due diligence must still address acquisition arrangements involving Glencore-linked interests, potential remediation requirements, road and rail access, and the factory’s relationship with surrounding communities.

Planning submissions about nearby industrial activity in Teralba and Boolaroo have recorded resident concerns about noise, dust, lighting and truck movements. Those submissions do not relate directly to the proposed train factory, but they show why future consultation and environmental controls will matter as the former coal site is considered for new employment uses.

The preferred site could eventually shape Sydney’s suburban trains for decades, but the next milestone is procurement rather than a train rolling out of a new factory. Broadmeadow remains an alternative until Teralba’s investigations, planning and acquisition work are complete.