Mr Johnson has advocated for an improvement to the Bomaderry to Kiama service for some 20 years.

He submitted a petition to introduce an hourly service between Kiama and Bomaderry to Kiama MP Gareth Ward at the end of 2015.

“There was about 1200 signatures and Gareth presented it to the [Transport] Minister in March,” Mr Johnson said.

“After a long time the answer was that they couldn’t do much.”

Mr Johnson, who is a life member of the UK Heritage Railways, said coordinating a trip to and from Sydney using the railway service was difficult.

“The Sydney to Kiama trains are hourly, mainly the trains from Kiama to Bomaderry are two-hourly,” he said.

“This means when you get on the train at Sydney and you get to Kiama you find you have to sit on the station and wait.

“Kiama is a nice station in the summer if it’s not raining or windy, in the winter it’s like sitting in a freezer and there is no waiting room.”

As an alternative Mr Johnson proposed the idea of a bus service to fill the gap.

“It would be an outright cost the railway would have to pay for because it isn’t within their system, they’re hiring in a bus,” Mr Johnson said.

“If the bus service came about it would be a great advantage. It really would improve the service and they would very quickly find out how many people would use it.”

Commuters often resort to driving to Waterfall or Sutherland to catch more regular trains to Central. 

“I drive to Kiama and leave the car there, which is ridiculous, an hourly train would cure that problem,” Mr Johnson said.

“A lot of people who signed the petition said they drive to Kiama.

“I’m sure a lot more people would use it if it was regular.”

Mr Ward recently announced a U-stop service would be added to the 3.22pm train from Central to reduce overcrowding on the South Coast line.

“It’s a smart change, if you’re at central you won’t see the stops on the monitor or your app,” Mr Ward said.

“I strongly support improving public transport. As someone who uses it I understand only too well and I will continue to raise the issue on behalf of Robin.

“I’ve written to the minster asking for the bus service to be considered and I look forward to hearing from him.” 

Mr Johnson agreed the timetable alteration was of benefit for South Coast commuters. 

“It cures the problem for people trying to catch the train in the afternoon, it’s been a problem for a long time, at one stage it was a short train and it was absolutely chock-a-block,” he said.