Train passengers travelling on several key Sydney lines will experience longer journey times in return for greater service frequency as part of a shake-up of the rail timetable on November 15.
Most timetable changes are to the T4 Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra, and the South Coast lines, which between them carry about 250,000 passengers a day, or a quarter of Sydney Trains’ patronage.
The greatest increase in trip times will be up to 14 minutes for those travelling on the T4 between Waterfall and central city, due to extra stops.
South Coast passengers travelling to Sydney Airport from Wollongong are also being advised to catch trains all the way to Central Station and double back on the T8 Airport line if they wish to avoid having to switch twice at stations.
As part of the changes, trains on the T4 and the South Coast lines will no longer operate on the same track between Arncliffe and Central Station. Each will have a “dedicated express track”, which is designed to detangle the lines, reduce bottlenecks and boost capacity.
On the T4 line, city-bound services will run every four minutes from Sutherland and every three minutes from Hurstville in the morning peak, up from five minutes and 3½ minutes respectively.
All T4 services will stop at Sydenham station to enable passengers to switch to driverless trains on the M1 metro line, while St Peters and Erskineville stations will become part of the T4 line, connecting them to the eastern suburbs.
The three extra stops will increase journey times by between three and six minutes for Sydenham, St Peters and Erskineville stations.
For Waterfall, Heathcote, Engadine and Loftus stations, trip times to the city will increase by about 12 minutes in the morning peak and about 14 minutes in the evening peak.
Trains on the T4 will run every 7½ minutes on average during peak periods at 15 stations, including Kogarah, Rockdale and Cronulla, which represents a 33 per cent rise in frequency.
Trip times on the T4 line from Cronulla to the central city will increase by between three and six minutes due to extra stops. Existing express services from Cronulla will remain.
For South Coast commuters, trains will increase from three to four an hour during peak periods between Wollongong and the Sydney CBD, resulting in a service every 15 minutes instead of every 20 minutes. Off-peak and weekend services will double to a train every 30 minutes, from every hour.
Journey times on the South Coast line between Wollongong and the Sydney CBD will increase by about six minutes due to extra stops and changes to train speeds in and out of Central Station. All South Coast trains will stop at Sydenham.
However, trains on the South Coast line will no longer stop at Wolli Creek, which means that passengers on those services wanting to get to the airport will have to switch twice: at Sutherland and Wolli Creek.
The alternative is to travel all the way to Central Station and switch once to trains on the T8 Airport line.
To ease crowding on the T8 Airport line, trains will operate every four minutes on average during peak periods between Green Square and Wolli Creek, up from every 6½ minutes. It will also be renamed the T8 SYD Airport & South West line, reflecting the code for Sydney Airport.
Under the new timetable, all T8 services – including those from Campbelltown and Macarthur – will run via the airport and Green Square.
Trip times for T8 commuters south-west of Revesby will rise by one to two minutes, and they will no longer have direct access to Sydenham, St Peters, Erskineville and Redfern stations during peak periods. They will have to switch services at Wolli Creek to reach those stations.
Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said the changes were aimed at improving reliability and providing more connections, especially at major stations such as Sutherland and Sydenham.
“That will balance the increase in travel time. It might well be that by interchanging, it delivers a faster trip or a more convenient journey for passengers,” he said.
Asked about the inconvenience for people travelling from Wollongong to the airport, Longland acknowledged it would involve changes, but constraints under the new timetable would prevent trains from stopping at Wolli Creek.
“Depending on the individual needs of passengers, Central may be a better option – it’s a simpler interchange. It’s only one change onto an improved frequency on the T8 line,” he said.
Transport Minister John Graham said the timetable change would result in more trains, shorter wait times and a more reliable service for passengers on the T4, T8 and South Coast lines.
“The former government neglected the heavy rail network. People living along these lines haven’t seen a significant service upgrade in over a decade. They deserve better and now they’ll get it,” Graham said.
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