LIMITED passenger and freight train services will be reinstated on the Blue Mountains Line from Monday evening as work continues to repair key infrastructure damaged by the bushfires.
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NSW TrainLink and freight services have been suspended between Mount Victoria and Lithgow since December 19 due to active fires and the subsequent damage.
But on Monday, a replacement coach will run from Sydney to Dubbo and return, leaving Central at 6.30am and returning from Dubbo at 1.45pm.
Tuesday through to Sunday, the XPT will depart Central at 6.18am and the XPT from Dubbo to Sydney will depart at 2.45pm.
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Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Paul Toole, said Transport for NSW had been working hard to ensure some services could resume.
"They have done an incredible job. When you look at the destruction that has been caused by those fires, it is immense," he said.
"We are going to be months away before we see regular services operating once again.
"Where those fires have been through, we've seen something like 300 trees already checked, inspected and removed on that line. We've got signalling boxes that have been completely destroyed, we've got thousands of wires that need to be replaced."
He explained that the reason for limited services was to allow work to continue on the line while still getting trains through.
"We need about a nine to 10 hour window each day to be able to undertake the repairs that are needed on the main western line; we can't have crews going in, bringing in heavy equipment and having trains operating throughout the day," Mr Toole said.
"That's why we're going to see freight movements primarily in the evening, early passenger services happening in the morning and throughout the day we'll see crews on the ground doing the work that's required to get operations back up and running as normal."
The impact on the train line has hit companies that rely on freight services hard.
Grain Force operations manager Wes Larnach said using an alternate route had significantly increased costs and time.
"It has basically tripled the cost," he said.
"...It was a loss making exercise for us, but we had to do it to make sure our customers got their priority freight down."
Customers who will be travelling along the affected lines are encouraged to check the latest information and plan their journey via www.transportnsw.info.