Proposed timetable changes for southern Sydney and Illawarra train services have now been sidelined after community outrage.
The NSW Government says the changes to Sydney’s T4 (Eastern), T8 (Southern) and South Coast lines had been due to take effect next month.
The government claimed the changes would deliver more frequent services and greater capacity across southern Sydney and the South Coast.
But their claim was disputed by the public fearful of the impact that the changes would have; click here for more about that.
The existing timetable is to remain, the government says.
The new timetable was due to have started on November 15 and involved removing the Wolli Creek airport access for South Line passengers; all South Line services would have stopped at Central, not Bondi Junction, with 200-plus weekly services added.
TIMETABLE CHANGE DEAD IN THE TRACKS
NSW Premier Chris Minns says it was clear that the public wanted greater reliability over more services.
“People want more trains but, above all, they want a reliable service that gets them to work and home on time.
“We’ve listened to commuters and local MPs; we’re not proceeding with these timetable changes.”
He says their priority now will be on improving reliability.
“Parts of our rail network are more than 100 years old. If you don’t invest in maintaining and upgrading that infrastructure, it will continue to fail. This needs to be the priority.” he says.
Transport Minister John Graham says they wanted “to deliver more frequent services and better connections for passengers”.
“After hearing feedback and listening to communities, we have made the decision that we have more to do to invest in reliability first,” he says.
“That’s why we have decided not to proceed with these timetable changes.
“Our focus is on improving reliability across the existing network while continuing to work with communities on future service improvements.”
