Claiming a "Rail Revolution", Mr Constance said the South Coast line would get an extra train each hour - but it turned out this would not be for some years.

"The additional funding will build on improvements already planned across parts of the train network, providing more space for tens of thousands of train customers," he said.

Read more: What's happening with the fast rail plan for the Illawarra?

Fairy Meadow commuter Justin Gaywood, 42, travels to Martin Place and back, and with 20 minutes waiting for a change at North Wollongong he spends four hours on the commute each day.

"Having the off-peak extra train every hour would be pretty good - for me it is definitely an advantage," he said.

"But since COVID ... it doesn't feel like trains are getting anywhere near full, and I'm not 100 per cent convinced that the trains will get back to anywhere near pre-COVID levels, more people working from home.

"I'm quite surprised the spending is going on capacity. To be perfectly honest if I could choose how they spent their money, I'd want them to accelerate those trains, because they are unbelievably slow. We're in the 21^st Century. We don't need trains that travel with a top speed of 60km/h. It's ridiculous."

The father of three travels up in peak hours and usually gets home after 9pm on an off-peak service.

"I work quite long hours so even if the trains were at normal speed I wouldn't be able to see much of my kids, but I would see some of my kids. At the moment I don't see them at all."

The improvements will be years off - Transport for NSW said improvements to the South Coast Line will be staged, with an extra off-peak service each hour between Wollongong and the Sydney CBD from late 2022, and an extra peak service added "from 2024".

Member for Wollongong Paul Scully accused the Government of recycling an announcement that had been made before, and called for a focus on speeding up the travel time.

"Wollongong commuters hear a lot about more trains for the South Coast Line but are yet to see them or to have a firm date on when they will arrive," he said.

The story: Govt's rail 'revolution' a slow train coming for Wollongong commuters first appear in the Illawarra Mercury.

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