Sydney train network to resume full weekday services on February 28

Sydney’s passenger trains will resume full weekday services at the end of this month amid rising patronage across the rail network and growing expectations of an easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

In a sign more people are returning to work in offices, the number of passengers on Sydney Trains last week rose 7 per cent, to an average of 541,905 daily weekday trips, on the week before.

Sydney’s trains will resume full weekday services on February 28.Credit: Louise Kennerley

Transport Minister David Elliott said the return to a weekday rail timetable on February 28 would provide commuters greater frequency and flexibility as more people travel around the city.

“This is a great sign,” he said of the patronage figures. “It shows customers have confidence to jump on public transport as more people get back to major centres like Sydney’s CBD and Parramatta.”

Premier Dominic Perrottet said last week that it was his government’s “civic duty” to encourage workers to return to offices in the CBD, the area having been hit hard by the pandemic.

Restrictions requiring masks to be worn inside, as well as density limits and the ban on singing and dancing, were extended last month until February 28.

Sydney’s trains experienced a 7 per cent increase in patronage last week.Credit: Louise Kennerley

Sydney’s trains have been running at an “enhanced” weekend rail timetable – similar to what was operating during the peak of the Delta outbreak in August – since January 10.

At this stage, there are no plans for regional operator NSW TrainLink to return to its normal timetable.

Since schools reopened at the start of this month, Sydney Trains has been running to a Saturday timetable but with extra services during the early morning and late afternoon.

Transport for NSW chief operations officer Howard Collins said more than 200 extra train services, which have been supplementing the existing rail timetable during peak periods, would continue until the full resumption of services at the end of the month.

Trains on the Sydney Metro Northwest line, as well as buses and light rail services, will keep running to an “enhanced” weekend timetable until at least February 28. Ferries have operated to their usual weekday timetable throughout the summer period.

March is typically one of the busiest months on Sydney’s public transport network.

Mr Collins said safety across the network remained a top priority, and a plan to ensure frontline workers and passengers who rely on public transport stay safe would remain in force.

The transport agency is working with Sydney Trains and rail unions to adjust rosters and manage the impact of COVID-19 on staff ahead of the resumption of a full weekday timetable.

Masks remain mandatory on public transport and green dots are in place on trains, buses and other services to guide commuters to the best places to sit or stand.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.