Sydney trains: February delays the worst in seven years
Sydney commuters have slogged through the worst train delays on record in the past month with just 83 per cent of scheduled services arriving on time and one line had it the worst.
NSW
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Commuters have suffered the worst train delays in the record books of Sydney Trains with one-in-five services arriving more than five minutes late last month.
Overall, just 83 per cent of trains arrived on time, the fewest since punctuality figures began to be published seven years ago. The worst results were on the Western line where a quarter of all trains ran at least five minutes late.
A Sydney Trains spokeswoman blamed the poor times on a series of weather issues and accidents across the network.
She cited electrical storms that felled trees, landslips, flooding and ongoing bushfire recovery work, as well as a power supply issue at the Hornsby Maintenance Centre and mechanical breakdowns.
“When recovering from major incidents our priority is always to provide a regular service to get our customers where they need to go rather than delivering fewer, but more punctual services,” the spokeswoman said.
According to NSW Transport classifications, a train is considered punctual if passengers are delivered within five minutes of the scheduled arrival.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance, who has returned to work after the bushfires, said the delays were not good enough.
‘This result is frustrating for commuters and the government alike. We’ve invested billions of dollars into the network with new trains, assets and upgrades. I expect the network to be more resilient and recover from unexpected events faster.”
He said Sydney Trains needed to lift its game but praised workers for their efforts to help customers.
NSW shadow transport minister Chris Minns said accidents and weather were no excuse. “These statistics confirm what everyone suspected, the trains are a complete basket-case for Sydneysiders,” he said.
“Failure for this on-time running shambles can be firmly placed with a government that has a maintenance backlog of over $400 million.”