Buffer riding teenagers in Sydney has become so rife that services are being delayed with nearly 300 reported cases this year.
And metal ‘nose cones’ are to be fitted to Tangara trains to stop them, NSW Premier Chris Minns says.
The state government says more teenagers are riding on, or clinging to, the outside of Tangara trains as they are filmed for social media.
The riders are targeting Tangara trains with the T4 Eastern Suburbs-Illawarra Line most affected.
The ‘nose cones’ are angled metal covers that will block access to the tread plate area between carriages, used by ‘buffer riders’ (‘train surfers’) to cling to moving trains.
The government says a six-month trial stopped buffer riding on those trains that had the nose cones fitted.
“No viral video or adrenaline rush is worth risking your life for,” Minns says.
“This message isn’t getting through to some people which is why we’re acting to prevent this reckless, life-threatening stupidity.
“This is about safety and common sense.”
BUFFER RIDING ON THE RISE
Buffer riding incidents rose by more than 25% this year.
275 cases were recorded so far in 2025 along with 588 crew-cab break-ins.
Eleven people were seriously injured in five years including a 13-year-old boy who fell off a train at Caringbah in September.
Transport Minister John Graham says CCTV footage shows “teenagers playing Russian roulette with 400-tonne trains” which he says is “heart-in-mouth stuff that will be confronting to watch for all parents”.
“We must end the buffer riding trend and the successful trial of the nose cone attachment on Tangaras means we can now get on with the job of physically preventing people stepping on to the tread plate in the first place,” he says.
“This is first and foremost a safety issue but if we can stop this happening the payoff will also be improved on-time running. The NSW Government is laser-focused on improving reliability on the Sydney Trains network.”
Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland says “a robust and practical” engineering deterrence is needed.
“We are confident this nose cone provides just that,” he says.
“Reducing the incidence of buffer riding is a firm focus at Sydney Trains to stop people putting their lives at risk and reducing delays for train passengers across the network.”
The government says that this year, more than 3000 minutes were lost due to buffer riding and vandalism; the T4 was the second worst performing line as disruption spiked during school holidays in line with reports of incidents.
There have been 132 reports of buffer riding so far this year on the T4, almost half of all reports across the Sydney Trains network.
All 110 carriages across Sydney’s 55 Tangara trains will have the nose cones fitted by the end of 2026; about a quarter will be fitted out by the end of this year, government says.
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