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Category: Rail Transport / State Parliament / States and Territories

Sydney trains to receive $1.5b boost for services to western suburbs

Thursday, 1 Dec 2016 11:29:39 | Lucy McNally

A recent report showed peak-hour afternoon trains in Sydney were late on 161 weekdays last year. (702 ABC Sydney: John Donegan)

The NSW Government has announced $1.5 billion for new trains, promising to run services between Sydney and the western suburbs every three minutes during peak periods.

Transport Minister Andrew Constance said NSW was expecting a 21 per cent growth in the number of train commuters in the next five years.

"We're going to purchase an extra 24 Waratahs — the train loved by Sydney," he said.

"We'll be able to deliver more express services from Parramatta to the CBD, where we'll have an express service every three minutes during those busy times of the day."

Mr Constance said NSW was dealing with unprecedented demand from train customers, adding that the 24 new trains should be on the tracks by the end of 2018.

"We're going to invest $1.5 billion not only in new trains but also on major upgrades to deal with signalling, platforms, tracks," he said.

The Minister's announcement came on the same day the NSW Auditor-General released a report showing peak-hour afternoon trains in Sydney were late 161 of the 253 weekdays in the 2015–2016 financial year.

Regional trains improve, but state-run buses 'almost never' on time

Regional customers are experiencing better services in terms of punctuality; train lines in country areas reached targets for the first time in 13 years.

But state-run buses have not been running on time for four years, according to the Auditor-General Margaret Crawford.

"Private operators with metropolitan contracts almost never met punctuality targets for the middle or end of a trip," Ms Crawford said.

"State Transport Authority hasn't met any of its metropolitan targets over the last four years."

Ms Crawford recommended Transport for NSW consider introducing fines when buses do not run on time.

"Currently, only private bus operators can be financially penalised if they do not meet punctuality targets at the start of their trip," she said.

But Mr Constance dismissed that idea.

"In terms of the performance of STA and on-time running, we all want to see better," he said.

"What you're asking is the taxpayer to penalise themselves in that question."

He said the STA worked in some of Sydney's most congested areas, so faced obvious difficulties when it came to meeting punctuality targets.

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