Why Sydney’s suburban trains have become so unreliable

One in five Sydney peak-hour trains has run late over the past two months, despite a decade-long project to improve the network’s reliability – and the cost of upgrading critical infrastructure has now blown out by $266 million.

The rising cost, which also includes buying new trains, has been blamed on increased project scope, higher salaries and delays caused by the pandemic and industrial action.

The contracts involve upgrades to rail infrastructure such as overhead wires.Credit: Steven Siewert

Tender documents show the estimated cost of a five-year contract for construction giant Laing O’Rourke and US company Kellogg Brown & Root to upgrade the southern sections of the T8 Airport and South Coast rail lines has surged to $404 million, from $250 million.

The bill for upgrades to the northern section of the T4 Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra line and other infrastructure has also risen by $112 million to $374 million. That five-year contract with John Holland and Jacobs is due to be completed in October.

The contract overruns are the latest examples of the escalating construction costs plaguing major transport projects in Sydney, which are piling pressure on the state budget.

Despite a multibillion-dollar spending program and a forced long-term halt in February to industrial action by rail workers, figures show suburban train services ran to schedule just 80 per cent and 84 per cent of the time in March and April respectively.

It is significantly below the target to have at least 92 per cent of peak-hour suburban services arrive at stations within five minutes of their scheduled time. Sydney Trains has not met that target in any month since January last year.

Opposition transport spokesperson Natalie Ward said taxpayers had invested hundreds of millions in the rail network, yet one in five trains was still running late. “That’s simply unacceptable. Commuters deserve answers and a clear plan to improve Sydney Trains’ performance,” she said.

Transport Minister John Graham said he would not be taking lectures from the opposition given that on-time running slumped to 71 per cent at one stage under the former Coalition government.

“It takes time to bring the maintenance levels back up, and we are a third of the way there. We are working overtime to end the ongoing rail dispute, so the entire focus of Sydney Trains can be on its customers, service reliability and increased maintenance,” he said.

The multibillion-dollar project involves upgrades to rail infrastructure on lines such as the T4 Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra.Credit: Steven Siewert

The tender documents for the two contracts cite a range of factors for the cost increases ranging from “adjustment” to pay for senior staff and managers and program office bills to removal of spoil and extra scope for signalling and overhead wiring.

Transport for NSW said extra scope to projects was the primary reason for the cost increases, while citing impacts from delays to work during the COVID pandemic and two rounds of protected industrial action by rail workers.

The increased scope includes station, signalling and overhead wiring upgrades to allow 10-carriage intercity trains to operate between Wollongong and Kiama. Under the original plans, 10-carriage trains were to operate from Sydney to Wollongong, while six-carriage trains would continue onto Kiama.

“The rail service improvement program is a multi-billion dollar program of upgrades that are already benefiting rail passengers, with more frequent services, reduced wait times and simpler timetables,” Transport for NSW said in a statement.

The contracts for work on the T4 and T8 lines are part of a $5 billion-plus spending program for upgrades to the electrified suburban rail network, which started in 2016 under the then Coalition government.

Until June last year, $3.8 billion had been spent on the project, which had been known as the “more trains, more services” program.

Last June a further $1.9 billion was set aside in the state budget for what was renamed the rail service improvement program over the four years to 2027-28.

The program is aimed at simplifying and modernising the train system, and last year involved the roll-out of a new rail timetable to integrate the city section of the M1 metro rail line into the network.

The program has included the cost of new trains such as additions to the Waratah and intercity passenger fleets. The cost of the long-delayed new intercity train fleet is set to surpass $4 billion, up from original budget forecasts for the project of $2.88 billion.

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