7th August, 2025
My question is directed to the Premier. In 2024-25 the Southern Highlands line that passes through my electorate had the worst on-time services of all lines, with almost 40 per cent of services late, replaced with buses or just cancelled. In light of the free transport that the Government has provided to all public transport users, will the Premier be consistent and promise free travel to the Southern Highlands every day?
Mr Chris Minns (Kogarah—Premier): That is obviously a very sharp question from the member for Wollondilly. I acknowledge the frustration of her constituents. I cannot agree to that request. I assume that if the Minister for Transport agreed to that request, it would not be the last request to us for free transport. I also point out that it is clear that the on‑time running for that part of the State is not good enough. The June figures indicate an 80 per cent on‑time running target; for July it is 82 per cent. Across the rest of the network, we were hitting nearly 90 per cent for both June and July.
That is significantly behind what commuters would expect from a reliable commuter service from the Southern Highlands. Part of the reason for the disruption, as the member would be aware, is that tracks south of Macarthur are owned by the Australian Rail Track Corporation, which is a Federal government agency. It is not owned by the New South Wales Government. As a result of that, reliability is more difficult when it comes to the maintenance and the scheduling of maintenance on those lines. But we are working with the Commonwealth Government to have a maintenance regime that does better than those four out of five on‑time running services.
The second element of the disruption for the Macarthur line has to do with the Endeavour trains that were built in the '90s. They have served that community and other commuter‑belt communities just outside metropolitan Sydney well, but they are past their use-by date. They should have been replaced by the new Regional Rail fleet but, of course, the previous Government failed to deliver that. That is a sad fact, but it is absolutely the truth. The happy news is that we have upgraded Moss Vale station with funding of $68 million, and we expect continued upgrades south of Macarthur to increase reliability for the member's community. We know that we have to do better. We are working with the Commonwealth Government to get more money for maintenance for this crucial link to Sydney. I understand the concern behind the question.