Trains are an integral part of travel for many people, but the state of the Southern Highlands Line is causing commuters more and more grief each day.
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The railway system has long been described by commuters as outdated and slow. In November 2017, a new timetable caused even more havoc.
Under the update, one of the most popular Goulburn to Sydney services changed to arrive at the destination six minutes later than it did on a previous timetable, throwing many commuter schedules out of sync.
For years the community has pushed the State Government for rail improvements, but it seems to no avail.
In 2012 the Southern Highlands had a population of just over 44,000, and according the latest census data, there are more than 48,000 residents in the region.
Due to the growing population, more people are travelling outside the area for work - and most would prefer to use public transport than drive their own cars to places like Sydney.
Lack of car parking, slow-moving services, and overcrowding have turned many commuters away from the Southern Highlands Line, which is putting pressure on other services.
In October last year Campbelltown City Council conducted a study that found about 20 per cent of cars parked at Campbelltown Station each day belonged to Wingecarribee and Wollondilly residents.
The reason for this was found to be lack of, and slow services from the Southern Highlands and Wollondilly.
According to the Transport NSW draft Future Transport Strategy, an electrified link from Campbelltown through to Goulburn is set for investigation and planning over a 10-20 year time frame.
But why should the community have to wait so long for the rail system to be brought up to speed?
It’s encouraging to hear that Wingecarribee and Wollondilly councils have teamed up to lobby the government for service improvements. But, our MPs need to work harder to push for what the community so desperately wants and needs.
We need faster trains and additional services to pull the our rail line out of what has been dubbed by commuters as “the nineteenth century.”
With campaigning soon to begin for the 2019 state election, we can only hope improved train services are promised.
