Six times a week, Tim Lewis is reminded of the sorry state of the South Coast line.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The former director of the Illawarra business chamber, Mr Lewis commutes to Sydney three days a week, and lately there hasn't been a journey which didn't result in a delay, termination or rescheduling.
The number of disruptions is getting close to overtaking the number of reports Mr Lewis has seen on the matter, whether that be about completing the Maldon-Dombarton rail link, that has now been renamed the SWIRL, to repairs and upgrades to the main South Coast line.
"How many more reports do we need?"
This frustration was once again shared by travellers over the weekend, with cancellations turning what is normally a one hour trip from Wolli Creek to North Wollongong into a four hour ordeal.
Commuters again had their plans changed on Monday, after wet weather led to speed restrictions at Coalcliff, leading to delays of up to half an hour at a time.
Mr Lewis highlights that the constant disruptions are occurring after a lack of investment in the rail line and increasing pressure on Wollongong to absorb some of the population growth in NSW as Sydney reaches its limits.
"We've pretty much become a dormitory suburb of Sydney. Sydney is running out of space, so it's opened the floodgates in Wollongong, allowing the development to take place, but without spending a single cent in advance on infrastructure," he said.
Without investment, long time issues across the network become weak links along the line, slowing services and in some cases contributing to the complete shutdown of parts of the network.
![The trouble spots on the South Coast line. Graphic by ACM The trouble spots on the South Coast line. Graphic by ACM](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/123041529/bca75ba0-2612-4889-824a-0c3fee445b8e.jpg/r0_0_2563_1441_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The longest and most consistent barrier to faster and more reliable services are the bends that the line takes to get from Helensburgh up to the Woronora Plateau.
University of Wollongong rail expert Philip Laird highlights how the alignment was changed in the early 20th century.
"They realigned the track for slow moving steam trains at the expense of a few extra kilometres and [added] heaps of curves, and it's really overdue for straightening," he said.
The series of bends means trains have to travel at a snail's pace.
Heading south, the next major issues are the Stanwell Park viaduct - an impressive feat of early 20th century engineering, however in need of regular repair and limiting speeds to just 60 km/h.
Following this is the section of single track between Coalcliff and Scarborough - which includes a tunnel - meaning that when trains heading south are delayed, northbound trains have to wait for them to pass, and vice versa.
While the track doubles again heading south, it cuts back to single track south of Unanderra, reducing the frequency of trains serving growing areas of Dapto and Shellharbour.
A number of level crossings in the northern suburbs and around Unanderra and Kembla Grange reduce the speed at which trains can travel , while also creating headaches for motorists on the adjacent road network.
Work to improve the network has included additional stabling yards at Waterfall, duplications of sections of track between Kiama and Bomaderry and the signalling upgrades as part of the $5.3 billion More Trains, More Services program which will add services in the peak and off-peak. The South Coast line will also receive the new intercity fleet, which has been delayed from its original 2021 arrival date.
But dealing with the infrastructural issues identified above has prompted more ambitious fixes, including a tunnel from Thirroul to Waterfall or the resurrection of the aborted Maldon-Dombarton link to move freight (and some passenger) traffic off the South Coast line.
Despite these reports being thrown into the too hard basket by successive governments, Professor Laird points out that other major projects have got the go ahead.
"You've got the mega projects in Sydney - the motorways and the metros - sharing in billions of dollars," he said.
"I think it's fair to say we've been led up the garden path for the last four years."
With a state election looming, previous promises have been resuscitated, but it has also been revealed that the NSW government walked away from plans for fast rail, first to Newcastle, and then Nowra via Wollongong, as recommended by Professor Andrew McNaughton in an unseen report. This leaves the field to the federal government's High Speed Rail Authority, which advertised open board positions in February.
Heathcote MP Lee Evans said repair work following weather disruptions in the last two years cost $14.3 million.
"The focus has been on improving journey times and capacity on existing services,' he said.
NSW Labor's transport spokesperson Jo Haylen committed the opposition to progressing upgrades if elected.
"That's why a Labor Government will release the McNaughton report and work with the Federal Labor Government who have real plans and real commitments on high speed rail," she said.
In the time that multiple reports have been released into the rail system in NSW, the Victorian government has undertaken $4 billion of work to upgrade its regional rail network, with significant contributions from the federal government. The project has included new stations, faster travel times, additional services and new trains.
Internationally, there are no shortages of comparisons, Professor Laird points out.
"The Prime Minister was recently watching the cricket in Ahmedabad that has got a new, very fast train with Japanese shinkansen [bullet train] technology, well advanced, with half of over 500km of high speed rail built," he said.
"Maybe we might follow."
Our news app has had a makeover, making it faster and giving you access to even more great content. Download The Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store and Google Play.