'Our rail line is archaic' - frustrated commuters have their say

The NSW Government has been called out for failing train passengers from the Shoalhaven and Kiama at two public meetings called by the trade union movement this week in Bomaderry and Kiama.

Under the banner, “Get our trains back on track” the South Coast Labour Council and Unions Shoalhaven invited regular commuters to share their experiences while using the South Coast Line, and the concerns they have with new trains and a new timetable being rolled out towards the end of this year.

Unions Shoalhaven Secretary, Pat David, said about 60 attended the Monday night meeting at Bomaderry where “the problems raised weren‘t much different to what we’ve been hearing for years”.

Pat said, however, the arrival of new trains with the promise of a better service between Bomaderry and Sydney had just added to people’s frustration.

Pat said those who spoke at Bomaderry listed serious gaps in services, safety concerns, a lack of weekend services, the need for more luggage storage (even on the new trains), a lack of wifi connectivity (even on the new trains) and for airport travellers a stop of services to Wolli Creek among the big issues raised.

“NOT KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES”

”Our rail line is archaic. It’s not keeping up with the times,” Pat said after attending Tuesday night’s Kiama meeting where about 25 turned out.

The NSW Government has effectively said the introduction of a regular 15-minute rail service in the morning and afternoon peak is the trade-off for the inconveniences which are coming with the new trains and timetable.

Pat David believes it’s time the local politicians sat up and took notice of the complaints. “It isn’t something they don’t know about,” Pat said. “We have had another 5,000 people sign our petition. That’s on top of the 10,000 who signed the petition in 2018. We aren‘t having to go chase people to sign the petition, they’re coming to us.”

Pat said she was pleased to see federal and state members, Fiona Phillips, Katelin McInerney and Liza Butler in the crowd on Monday night, hearing first-hand about the problems commuters face on a daily basis.

She said commuters were pinning their hopes on some good news in next week’s NSW budget and the long-awaited Rail Resilience Plan. ”We hope there’s something in that.”

ELECTRIFICATION, DUPLICATION

Better still, she says the entire problem to the south could be fixed once and for all if there was a successful Business Case approved through Infrastructure Australia which would see the electrification and duplication of the South Coast Line between Bomaderry and Kiama.

“Kiama was done 25 years ago, so in the Shoalhaven we’ve been waiting the past 25 years to hear some positive news.” Pat said. “We reckon we’ve waited long enough.”

At Tuesday night’s meeting, Kiama MP, Katelin McInerney, said she was taking all the issues raised on board, and she took them all very seriously.

The South Coast Labour Council has said they will continue to give commuters a voice until the current and proposed service is satisfactorily amended.