Treasure trove of lost items ride last train to charity

The forgotten goods amount to about 50,000 lost property items each year.

Tens of thousands of the forgotten items will this year be donated to charity and passed on to families in need.

A partnership between Sydney Trains and Aboriginal social enterprise Muru Mittigar will gift the unclaimed items to community organisations across NSW.

Donations like these mean the world to families in need, charity head Wayne Cornish said.

"Bikes give children independence and contribute to their self-worth," he said.

"The games help families and community connect."

Between 800 and 1200 unclaimed items are found each week with most returned within four weeks, Sydney Trains executive director of customer experience Maureen Clark said.

Typically staff find umbrellas, mobile phones and other electronic devices.

But toys, sunglasses and umbrellas are also left behind as well as appliances such as rice cookers, electric frying pans, sandwich presses and even SodaStream machines.

"It's not uncommon for us to receive about 30 to 40 mobile phones and upwards of 14 sets of wireless headphones a day," Ms Clark said.

"On a rainy day we are likely to find more than 50 umbrellas."

Around 4000 pairs of glasses were donated to the Rotary Lions organisation in 2023.

Some of the more unusual items include prosthetic limbs, war pins and war medals, snow skis, 10-foot surfboards, a wheelchair, a tent and even letters to a customer from the Buckingham and Kensington palaces.

"The network is expansive, and where we can we do not want to see any of the items go to waste," Ms Clark said.

Other items which are unclaimed go to auction and Sydney Trains invests any revenue - including the $35,000 raised earlier in 2024 - back into public transport improvements.

The auction is held once a year and can sell up to 20,000 items.

Australian Associated Press