New train timetable starting 20 October 2013 This timetable was not officially released until 17 September - far too late for any changes to be possible - but was trumpeted as "extremely ambitious" and "the biggest timetable change in a generation". It had been leaked in June however minister Berejiklian said at the time that it was still being changed. It is claimed to add more than 1000 extra train services every week to Sydney's network and that there are 600 new express services, though many of these are apparently existing trains scheduled to miss more stops. We can't replicate the calculations - perhaps the erroneous inclusion of 33 columns of Saturday trains in the late-night inbound weekday Western line PDF (pages 20 and 21, still uncorrected as we publish this) explains some of it although there may have been double counting elsewhere too.

Issues with the new timetable

  1. Secrecy The public deserves more notice of broad-based changes like this timetable claims to be. In particular, timetables should be released for comment while it is still possible to make changes - perhaps a full three months before implementation. Despite the over-long preparation, the published PDFs were not free of serious errors - see above.
  2. Major changes Rockdale and Kogarah have been downgraded and will now be mainly served by Hurstville local trains. While some of their traffic (e.g. high school students) no doubt comes from nearby stations on the Illawarra Local line, they are both important centres warranting good connections with the CBD. Homebush is to become largely a turnback station. The unfortunate consequence is that connections to the west are being lost, e.g. trips between Homebush and Flemington now must go via Strathfield at most times. Otherwise, the inner west line has fared quite well. It has lost a few supplementary peak hour trains. There will be fewer trains terminating at Ashfield. The span of the 15 minute frequency at weekend is to be extended by one hour in the morning and four hours at night. Changes to country services will see Melbourne and Canberra trains routed via the East Hills line; they will no longer make the handy stop at Strathfield. The inbound Western XPT will miss the outbound overnight Melbourne XPT at Sydney Terminal by 12 minutes. Connection between the inbound lunchtime Canberra Xplorer and the Brisbane XPT will no longer be possible either. The Brisbane XPT will run a couple of hours earlier, possibly to reduce clashes with Gold Coast services in the 15km between Salisbury and Roma Street; it will arrive Brisbane at 5 a.m. (winter) or 4 a.m. (summer) and start its return to Sydney about an hour later. Many passengers and their Brisbane friends will not like the new times.
  3. Gaps between services at some stations Another timetable weakness is the uneven spacing of trains, resulting in surprising gaps in the timetable, including some at peak hours. You can use the following calculator to show gaps in the weekday timetable at many stations. Gaps exceeding ten minutes are highlighted in yellow, gaps over fifteen minutes in orange, gaps over 20 minutes in red, and gaps over 30 minutes in magenta. If your station appears in two timetable lines (e.g. Ingleburn) the times for each line are shown separately. We have deliberately omitted CBD and many major junction stations that are served by multiple lines.

    Bankstown line stations:
    Western line stations:
    North Shore line stations:
      Illawarra and Eastern Suburbs line stations:  
    Airport - East Hills line stations:
    Blue Mountains line stations:
    Central Coast line stations:
    South Coast line stations:
    Hunter line stations:
  4. Train speed

    Sydney trains travel more slowly in 2013 than their predecessors did in the 1930s, despite stronger track, more powerful and better-engineered trains, more modern signalling, the latest timetabling software and increased competition from motorways. Of course, the number of trips which a train can complete daily diminishes in proportion to slow travel speeds, reducing the number of trips that trains can make at peak hour.

    Trip
    (typical off-peak service)     		Duration in
    March 1989
    timetable     		Duration in
    2005
    timetable     		Duration in
    2009
    timetable     		Duration in
    October 2013
    timetable
     Museum to Central via Quay 12 minutes¹ 15 minutes 14 minutes 15 minutes
     Bankstown to Central 30 minutes 36 minutes 37 minutes 36 minutes
     Chatswood to Wynyard 17 minutes 21 minutes 19 minutes 19 minutes
     Richmond to Blacktown 39 minutes² 38 minutes 37 minutes 38 minutes
     Katoomba to Penrith 68 minutes 74 minutes 74 minutes 71 minutes
     Guildford to Westmead   13 minutes 16 minutes 13 minutes
    ¹ Bradfield calculated that a trip from Central to Central via Quay
    should take 11 minutes 38 seconds
    ² Included change from diesel to electric at Riverstone

  5. Further cuts to upper North Shore services

    Although Macquarie line trains add to services on the lower North Shore, the upper North Shore will suffer further reduced services. Ironically, this line passes through the Ku-ring-gai area, singled out by government policies facilitating high-density development near railway stations.

    StationInbound trains
    per weekday¹
    (2005)    		Inbound trains
    per weekday¹
    (2009)    		Inbound trains
    per weekday¹
    (2013)
    Wahroonga109101  81
    Warrawee109101  81
    Turramurra115108106
    Pymble110104  81
    Gordon128117116
    Killara118109103
    Lindfield135110104
    Roseville133110104
    All Ku-ring-gai957860776
    ¹ Excluding late night services that run only on Fridays