Macarthur commuters are dealing with sweltering heat as one in six trains to the city go without air conditioning

Macarthur commuters are copping a raw deal with one in six trains travelling between Macarthur and Circular Quay being non-air-conditioned S-Set trains according to a Sydney Trains review of 205 trips last year.

Ruse resident Jess Bernard is sick of travelling on old trains where as temperatures inside the metal sweat boxes soar. Picture: Peter Kelly

Macarthur commuters are copping a raw deal with one in six trains travelling between Macarthur and Circular Quay being non-air-conditioned S-Set trains according to a Sydney Trains review of 205 trips last year.

Between February 1 and September 30 the Sydney Trains review of the T2 line found that in 205 trips, 34 were covered by non-air-conditioned S-Set trains.

This is despite 97 per cent of the city’s fleet being air-conditioned, according to Sydney Trains.

The review was conducted in response to complaints to Sydney Trains from Ruse resident Jess Bernard who has written 35 times in the past 12 months after growing frustrated at the prevalence of non-air-conditioned trains on the Macarthur line.

Jess Bernard says the Macarthur region are getting a raw deal from Sydney Trains. Picture: Peter Kelly

Ms Bernard contacted the Macarthur Chronicle after reading last month’s article about local commuter’s frustrations at being caught on the ancient S-Set trains during the summer heatwave.

Ms Bernard said she was annoyed at a Sydney Trains spokesman’s comment in the article which claimed 97 per cent of the fleet across the city was air-conditioned.

“I just thought, how could that be true?” she said.

“I think the people of Macarthur are being discriminated against. We are forced to travel on trains not fit for cattle.

“I have a friend at work who caught one of these old trains on the North Shore line the other day and he wouldn’t stop going on about it. He was gobsmacked when I told him how often I had to catch one.

“You look around on the train and people are exhausted and fed up with them.”

A Sydney Trains spokesman said that the fleet is waiting on the addition of 24 new Waratah Trains as part of the State Government’s $1.5 billion investment in the More Trains More Service program.

“While the new trains are being built, Sydney Trains is working hard to ensure S-Sets are used in a way that causes the least disruption to customers, while also delivering more services more often,” he said.

Is there anything more frustrating than one of these showing up for your journey home?

“To ensure the maximum number of trains are in operation for customers, S-Sets are used during network incidents, periods of high demand, and for necessary maintenance. The alternative to using S-Sets would unfortunately be a reduction in services.”

The spokesman said similar reviews to the one conducted on the Macarthur line had not been carries out across Sydney.

Ms Bernard said she had considered not catching the train at times due to the stinking hot conditions during the Sydney heatwave.

“The car is just not an option for me to travel into the city,” she said.

“The travel time and finding parking is too difficult.

“I’ve been catching trains for 20 years and I caught the old trains back then but I just don’t understand how we have the technology now and it seems to me that one of the longest trips in some of the hottest parts of Sydney still get stuck with these sauna trains.”

The temperature on this 5.57pm train from Glenfield to Campbelltown was as high as 46.2 degrees when the Daily Telegraph measured it on January 30. Picture: Jonathan Ng

An investigation by the Daily Telegraphin January found passengers in carriages on the 3.20pm Schofields to Campbelltown train were enduring temperatures of 50C.

On the 4.27pm from Central to Campbelltown passengers suffered through 51C degrees as the train pulled into Leumeah station.

The 24 Waratah trains are scheduled to start operating in late 2018.