Train commuters in the Macarthur region are feeling the heat in more ways than one under the NSW Government’s new train timetable.
After a week of cancelled services on the network causing long delays, local MP Greg Warren says there has also been “a massive increase in the number of non-air-conditioned trains allocated to the region’’.
Documents obtained by Mr Warren under freedom of information show that, under the new timetable, there are 285 services without air-conditioning allocated on the T2 Inner West and Leppington and T8 Airport and South lines.
Under the previous timetable, this figure was just 70 – representing an increase of more than 300 per cent.
The documents also reveal that the Macarthur region is second only to the Carlingford line when it comes to non-air-conditioned trains, while 100 per cent of trains on the Eastern Suburbs and North Shore lines are air-conditioned.
Mr Warren says that during weekday peak travel periods, Macarthur commuters are forced to endure 11 services every day without air-conditioning – five in the morning peak (departing Campbelltown station between 6am and 8am) and six6 in the afternoon peak (departing Circular Quay station between 4:30pm and 6:30pm).
The figures represent a best case scenario, as they only include services that are allocated non-air-conditioned carriages as part of the regular timetable.
After accounting for air-conditioned carriages being taken out of operation and replaced with non-air-conditioned carriages, which can occur quite frequently, the actual number of non-air-conditioned trains could be significantly higher.
The revelation adds further fuel to calls from the community for the new timetable to be scrapped, with many local commuters voicing their dissatisfaction with being forced to change trains at Glenfield, the frequent cancellation of services due to inadequate staffing and indeed the lack of air-conditioning on services in the Macarthur region.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“Whichever way you look at it, the NSW Government’s new train timetable is an absolute disaster,’’ says Mr Warren.[/social_quote]
“While I’m sure this news won’t come as a shock to the thousands of local train commuters who catch these trains every day, it does shine a light on this government’s blatant disregard for local commuters.
“How on earth can the Government justify having hundreds of trains in the Macarthur region without air-conditioning, yet not a single un-air-conditioned service in the Eastern Suburbs or on the North Shore?
“The community are right to be outraged by this disastrous new timetable, and it’s time the NSW Government admitted they got it wrong and went back to the drawing board to make a timetable that’s fairer for local commuters.”
Bill Macnaught Kate Levy ??
There’s not enough Liberal voters on the line. I wander what Craig Kelly is doing?
Still haven’t ever had a non-air-conditioned train on the south line. You can’t tell me the southern trains don’t go “off for maintenance” too.
I asked Transport NSW to explain why there is such an inequitable distribution of un air-conditioned trains, and I got a stock letter back from Terry McSweeney (Principal Manager, Ministerial & Government Services) that would have made Sir Humphrey proud. It did not answered my question, was inaccurate and highly condescending. Perhaps the truth is just too hard to put into writing.