Sydney Trains: Push to restore express train services at Granville station

Commuters have renewed a push to reinstate express train services from a western Sydney station seven years after they were axed for slower journeys.

Commuters have been denied express services at Granville for seven years.

Commuters have renewed a push to reinstate express train services from Granville seven years after they were axed for slower journeys - but are likely to wait longer.

Then Liberal Transport Minister Andrew Constance cut the services in 2017, leaving passengers on the T1 and T2 lines to endure up to 17 stops from Granville to reach Town Hall on weekdays.

Previously, trains would sprint to the city via Strathfield and Redfern.

It’s been more than a year since Transport Minister Jo Haylen and Granville state Labor MP Julia Finn pledged to investigate the reintroduction of express services and comes amid an Upper House inquiry into public transport in western Sydney.

A review into the Sydney Trains timetable is also under way.

The government vowed to restore fast trains to Granville. Picture: Christian Gilles

Ahead of last year’s poll, Premier Chris Minns vowed to reinstate express services on weekdays as part of an election promise.

“Suburban stations across Sydney including Leppington, Campbelltown, Granville, Lidcombe and Riverwood have seen cuts to their connections to Parramatta and the CBD,’’ he said.

“These communities are surging in growth but passengers are leaving the train network.’’

Transport advocate Roydon Ng said more express trains should also be added to Lidcombe station because of its growing population and the strategic position it shared with Granville.

“The growing population results in an increased demand in motor vehicles and one such way to alleviate environmental degradation is with faster train services and reducing car dependency,’’ he said.

“Both Lidcombe and Granville are strategic railway stations on the network and should be serviced by the T1 Western line.’’

But any changes are not likely to be imminent.

A Transport for NSW spokeswoman said it was developing and assessing options for the government to consider the re-establishment of express train services between Parramatta and the Sydney CBD.

“Changes to train services and stopping patterns have a number of implications across the whole network, so need to be carefully considered and assessed,’’ she said.

“Signalling and other infrastructure upgrades may be required, and technical analysis is ongoing to identify the full scope of works.’’

The spokeswoman said Transport’s next “significant” timetable change would be to accommodate the opening of the CBD Metro and the conversion of the T3 rail line to metro standard.