The state government has confirmed none of its new intercity trains will enter service this year, drawing criticism from the opposition.
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The first of 55 trains ordered from South Korea were initially due to enter service on the Central Coast and Newcastle Line in late 2019, but that timeline was last year revised to the second half of this year.
The Newcastle Herald revealed in October there would be further delays after setbacks training drivers and guards, but the government had mooted potentially putting a train into service before the end of 2020.
However, Transport for NSW has now confirmed no trains will hit the tracks to carry passengers until 2021.
"All New Intercity Fleet trains will undergo an extensive period of testing and commissioning, and must complete a number of critical activities before starting customer service," the agency said in a project update.
"This includes familiarising staff with the new train through education and training exercises, finalising consultation with stakeholders and other operational readiness activities.
"Once these have been completed, the [fleet] is expected to be ready for customers on the Central Coast and Newcastle Line in early 2021."
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Labor transport spokesman Chris Minns said the delay was no surprise given the NIF project's history.
"When you've got a company like Downer that has to retrofit all the stations through the Blue Mountains and change all the configurations of the tunnels so [the trains] can fit, I think most taxpayers would say, 'are we really getting value for money here?'," he said.
Charlestown MP Jodie Harrison said "many of these problems" would have been "avoided" if the government had "built these trains in NSW and listened to local experts and rail employees".
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