THE number of passengers travelling on the Illawarra Line jumped by almost 10 per cent in the past year.
New figures showed morning peak trains on this line continued to be the most crowded on the Sydney Trains network, despite five new services being introduced.
The average passenger load between 8am and 8.59am rose by 1 per cent to 134 per cent, Transport For NSW data shows.
That means 34 per cent of passengers had to stand.
On some trains the load reached 167 per cent.
However, travelling conditions improved markedly in the evening peak.
Between 5pm and 5.59pm, the average load fell from 112 per cent to 103 per cent, with the highest load reaching 129 per cent.
Transport For NSW said the new timetable on the Illawarra Line, introduced a year ago, was designed to improve journey times and even out loads so that passengers travelling longer distances could get a seat, and some trains weren't overcrowded when others went empty.
An analysis document said that while loading was "still high" in the busiest hour of the day (8am-9am), and patronage had increased by nearly 10 per cent, loads were "more evenly spread".
The document said that before the timetable change many services had no seating capacity on arrival at Kogarah and Rockdale, and some departing Rockdale had been above 135 per cent loading.
Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said that across the network patronage had increased by 8 million journeys in a year, and average crowding levels in the busiest hour in the morning and evening had eased by about 7 per cent.
LOADS ‘REDUCED’
The T2 Airport line recorded the biggest increase in patronage on the network after 15 extra weekly peak services were added.
Between 8am and 8.59am the average passenger load fell in a year from 129 per cent to 114 per cent.
In the evening between 5pm and 5.59pm the average load fell by 1 per cent to 92 per cent.
PASSENGER VIEWS
Passengers interviewed at Kogarah station during the morning peak this week had mixed views on whether the timetable changes were a good thing.
The strategy included eliminating express services at Kogarah and Rockdale stations, and forcing passengers travelling to those stations from the south to change at Hurstville.
City worker Anna Sutherland, of Sans Souci, said the axing of express services meant it took far longer to get to work.
‘‘No way are there more seats at the time I travel, which is usually between 8.30am and 9am,’’ she said.
‘‘The train is usually full by the time it gets to Kogarah, and I have to stand 80-90 per cent of the time.’’
University student Sam Chu, of Kogarah, said because city-bound trains started at Hurstville it was much easier to get a seat.
‘‘At first I wasn’t impressed [at losing the express services], but it’s only an extra four or five minutes.’’
Rebecca Thornley said she still couldn’t understand how transport officials could remove express services from Kogarah, ‘‘which services two hospitals, numerous schools and is one of the busiest stations in Sydney’’.
Joanne Meng liked the regularity, and ‘‘I always get a seat’’.
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