TRAINS HAVEN'T BEEN THIS LATE SINCE 2008

MEDIA RELEASE | Penny Sharpe MLC | Shadow Minister for Transport   
August 15, 2012

TRAINS HAVEN'T BEEN THIS LATE SINCE 2008

Commuters have been forced to endure the worst train delays in four years under the O'Farrell Government – with new figures showing CityRail on time running has plummeted over the past 12 months.

"More than six per cent of trains on the CityRail network arrived more than five minutes late in 2011/12 – the worst on time running result in four years," said Shadow Minister for Transport, Penny Sharpe.

"We haven't seen trains this late across the CityRail network since 2007/08 – with some train lines posting their worst result since 2004/05.

"Barry O'Farrell was elected promising to improve public transport – but instead, passengers are being forced to endure longer, more frequent delays across the CityRail network.

"Seven out of 16 train lines failed to meet the on time running target of 92 per cent last year – a shocking result.

"The worst performing train lines last year were the Southern Highlands, Newcastle/Hunter, South, Western, East Hills, South Coast and Northern via Strathfield lines – none of which met their on-time-running targets.

"Almost one in ten trains on the Western Line is late – the worst result since 2007/08.

"These train delays come on top of the O'Farrell Government's decision to increase public transport fares by 5.4 per cent - almost double the rate of inflation.  

"This means the O'Farrell Government is charging commuters up to $156 extra per year for the pleasure of catching the latest trains since 2008.

"You can hardly charge commuters more for a service that is worse than what they received four years ago. That's not an improvement - it is a disaster.
"To make matters worse, the Minister for Transport said today that she doesn't intend to fix the problem for at least three years.

"The O'Farrell Government's refusal to take on time running seriously is inconveniencing hundreds of thousands of commuters each and every day.

"On time running matters for every commuter. It means getting to work on time and then arriving home to your family at a reasonable hour.

"The O'Farrell Government promised to fix Sydney's trains but instead peak hour services are getting later and later. The Minister needs to stop talking about Fixing the Trains and get on with the job."