Wollongong MP Paul Scully is taking a stand so rail commuters don’t have to.
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Mr Scully is calling on the government to deal with overcrowding on South Coast trains leaving Central in the early afternoon.
Of particular concern to Mr Scully are the 3.22pm and 3.54pm services which have four carriages and regularly see commuters standing to at least Hurstville or Sutherland.
A Transport for NSW (TfNSW) spokesman said they were looking into ways to best handle this issue.
Mr Scully said the bulk of the complaints he received about South Coast trains were related to those two services.
This week he has moved a notice of motion in parliament looking for the state government “to add more carriages to afternoon train services to the Illawarra as a matter of urgency”.
Mr Scully said the solution was really as simple as adding more carriages to the affected services.
“You can get a seat if you add enough carriages,” Mr Scully said.
“There’s generally enough seats in the morning and they’re mainly eight-car sets.
“People aren’t complaining about standing up in the morning.”
A new intercity fleet will be rolled out from 2019 and Mr Scully is concerned that South Coast commuters can expect no improvements before then.
A TfNSW spokesman said they were aware of the issue of crowding “on a small number of services on the South Coast in the afternoon”.
He said measures had already been taken, such as adding Austinmer as a stop and introducing “U” stops – where passengers are only permitted to board a train – at Wolli Creek, Hurstville and Sutherland.
The spokesman also said TfNSW was looking into improving services ahead of the intercity fleet’s introduction.
“Planning work is now under way to look at travel patterns and demand in the Illawarra to help determine how to best improve capacity on the South Coast line,” the spokesman said.