Train timetable clash in parliament ahead of Blue Mountains changes

Mr Ayres came under fire for stating the majority of commuters will get to their station “faster” under the changes.

Responding to a question without notice on November 15 about the removal of Redfern from Blue Mountains line train services, Mr Ayres said the changes will mean “the majority of people catching our trains [will] get to the stations that they need to go to faster and that’s exactly what this timetable update does”.

But a comparison of the new and old timetables shows that Blue Mountains line trains will arrive two minutes later at Central each morning, despite skipping Redfern altogether.

The Blue Mountains Gazette revealed in October that Redfern station would be removed from the stopping pattern of all Blue Mountains Line services at the end of November. This will see hundreds of passengers either to travel on to Central, or change trains and double back in order to get to work and classes at the University of Sydney and the Australian Technology Park at Eveleigh.

Readers’ letters and Facebook comments to the Gazette in the wake of the news highlighted the important role of Redfern as an interchange station for passengers travelling to final destinations on the eastern suburbs and City Circle lines.

NSW transport minister Andrew Constance told the Gazette in October that “the majority of these customers will enjoy quicker journey times”.

Blue Mountains MP Trish Doyle said the changes will result in a “farcical situation in which one of the key destinations for Blue Mountains train passengers has been cut completely [Redfern station] and yet the trains will still take longer in every instance to reach Central”.

“Most worrying of all is that Stuart Ayres, who represents towns in the Lower Blue Mountains, has swallowed this nonsense hook, line and sinker. It proves that he has not even looked at the timetable, because if he had he would see that in fact every passenger on the Blue Mountains line travelling to Central is worse off by 20 minutes per week,” she said.

Responding to the Labor attack, Mr Ayres said in a statement:  “Train timetables will continue to be updated as new Metro services are integrated into the network. The government is implementing the largest investment and increase in train services in a generation,” he said.

“This will see a significant increase in the number of services on the western line. As those changes are implemented they will always favour the largest number of passengers who benefit.

“Train timetables will continue to be updated as new Metro services are integrated into the network.”

View the new timetable here.

This story originally appeared on the Blue Mountains Gazette website.