Timetable turning our lives upside down: commuters
THE NSW Opposition is vowing to “correct the bias” against Western Sydney in the new train timetable as commuters lash out at the “near-doubling” of some peak-hour trips to the city.
Penrith
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THE NSW Opposition is vowing to “correct the bias” against Western Sydney in the new train timetable as commuters lash out at the “near-doubling” of some peak-hour trips to the city.
Opposition Transport spokeswoman Jodi McKay said the biggest losers in the new timetable were commuters from Western Sydney and the inner west.
Labor has committed to a timetable review within six months to make it “fairer” including for commuters on the Richmond line who are telling Macquarie federal Labor MP Susan Templeman the timetable has “turned their lives upside down”.
“Not everyone can negotiate new start and finish times with employers; not everyone can get earlier childcare; not everyone can demand flexibility in their work arrangements,” Ms Templeman said. The Richmond service is now served by the T5 Cumberland Line late night across the week and early morning on weekends.
Ms McKay said the Blue Mountains train not stopping at Redfern was also “deeply unpopular”.
“It is impacting on students and workers coming in to the city,” the Strathfield MP said.
Train services from Penrith have increased by 22 per cent ... (with) more trains in the am peak for Penrith, Kingswood and Werrington Stations — Transport for NSW
Transport for NSW says the timetable doubles the services for customers between Richmond and Marayong on the T5 Line late at night, “with a train every 30 minutes instead of every hour”, and there are also more trains on the weekends for Blacktown — where Richmond customers swap for services to Penrith, the Sydney CBD and Sydney’s southwest.
“Train services from Penrith have increased by 22 per cent ... (with) more trains in the am peak for Penrith, Kingswood and Werrington Stations, with a service on average every seven-and-a-half minutes.
“Train customers from Penrith to the inner (benefit from) more than 300 weekly services, better connections and more reliable trips.”
The measures are designed to help spread capacity across the network and reduce crowding, TfNSW says. “While there may be more frequent trains, commuters are spending longer on the trains, with many having to interchange,” Ms McKay maintained.
While there may be more frequent trains, commuters are spending longer on the trains, with many having to interchange — Jodi McKay
Sydney Trains boss Howard Collins said Opal data supported their timetabling decisions.
“The Richmond line, compared to the Penrith line, we know only 15 per cent of people late at night are going to Richmond,” Mr Collins said, adding “we’re trying to get the majority of people to their destination”.
Mr Collins is pledging to rethink the length and frequency of some trains. “Over the next few weeks we hope to redistribute the cars, and make one or two tweaks to the (train) stops,” he said. He also noted “we now are stretching the boundaries of how many trains we can run”.
Modifications will also be made to TripView to “iron out” some of the problems customers reported having with the Sydney train/bus/ferry timetables app since the new services kicked in on November 26.
He said “observers” have been dispatched across the network to see first-hand the effects of the new public transport timetable following complaints on social media and to Sydney Trains about packed carriages and station overcrowding.
“I’d love to provide an express train for everyone ... and, yes, now (certain) services are slower but the regularity is more frequent and the trains are less full,” Mr Collins said.
TripView transport app instructional video
TfNSW says it has received about 950 complaints in week one of the new timetable but insisted customers have been “happy” with the changes.
“It’s been a positive first week of the new rail timetable with on-time performance at 97 per cent,” a TfNSW spokesman said.
When we look at the overall data more people are sitting down and finding seats — Sydney Trains CEO Howard Collins
Mr Collins said the data indicated more people were sitting down and finding seats on trains. He said the weight sensor technology on Sydney’s trains made it possible to collecting such data.
“A week of data shows us it’s a robust timetable and runs well from a reliability point of view,” Mr Collins said.
“One thing we’re working on in the medium term is re-signalling of the whole network.
“That would give you 24 trains an hour (up from 20) — that’s 3800 seats or 8000 more people an hour you could shift than you do today.”
COMMUTER CASE STUDY
AS the State Government rolls out its $1.5 billion plan to overhaul the network, by delivering the biggest capacity uplift ever introduced on the Sydney train network at one time, the Penrith Press went into the commuter trenches to find out what’s changed.
Lapstone passengers described the timetable as crushingly slow and inconvenient.
“I used to go out at Redfern but now I have to go to Central,” said intelligence analyst, Kim Houen, who we caught up with on the 7.03am Blue Mountains express from Lapstone Station. “It’s only minutes, but it’s the hassle.”
(Parramatta express trains) are still four carriages at 4pm; it’s actually dangerous because there’s nothing to hang onto — Elizabeth Rigg
Elizabeth Rigg, who disembarks at Parramatta Station, described her return journey on the 4.13pm express train as “hideous”. “They’re still four carriages at 4pm; it’s actually dangerous because there’s nothing to hang onto,” Ms Rigg said with reference to the lack of overhead hand rails on the Blue Mountains trains.
Blacktown recruiter/consultant Ray Askarzai said he felt well-served by the T1 Western Line, even before the timetable changes kicked in.
“I’m always catching the one (train) that comes next,” said Mr Askarzai, who we found boarding the new 7.30am Blue Mountains express from Blacktown Station — one of around 250 more express trains every week to the CBD. He didn’t realise it was now offered.
Ren Cudicio, of Springwood, said he welcomed the new later train options.
Transport for NSW says changing trains is “commonplace in an expanding train system and is similar to the way other major rail networks around the world operate, like in London, Hong Kong, Paris and New York”. And with Sydney set to grow to the size of New York or London by the middle of the century, we should expect more of this moving forward.
Sydney Trains boss Howard Collins said the average time customers take to tap on and tap off is 30 minutes. “That includes walking up stairs, waiting for trains, and tapping off,” he said. “It hasn’t fundamentally changed since we did the new timetable.”
COMMUTER PAIN RELIEF
Snapshot of extra public transport services:
■ Double the T1 Western Line services on weekends and late at night between Penrith and Doonside, meaning a train every 15 minutes.
■ More am peak services for Penrith, Kingswood and Werrington, with a service on average every 7½ instead of every 10 minutes.
■ More am and pm peak services for St Marys and Mount Druitt, with a service on average every six minutes instead of every 7½ minutes.
Source: Transport for NSW
LONDON’S TRAIN CARRIAGE CAPACITY TRIAL