Twice a day, five days a week, music theatre student Jordan Angelides stocks up on snacks, plugs his headphones in and tries to relax on the two-hour, 15-minute commute between his Unanderra home and Fox Studios in central Sydney.
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At the moment it's bearable - and after doing it for four years, he's become used to it.
But Mr Angelides, who has an active daily schedule including dance classes, said he wouldn't be able to tolerate it any more if a reduced frequency of train services meant he'd be left with standing room only.
"I think it would be more crowded," he said. "I wake up at 5am, and get home at 6.30pm."
Mr Angelides said a physical schedule and lack of parking options meant he would be unlikely to risk driving each day.
He said he would be forced to move away from the Illawarra if the trains became too crowded.
"I would arrange accommodation in Sydney - I would leave."
Zahra Amri, who commutes to Sydney twice a week from Wollongong for work, said a decrease in train frequency meant she would be stranded for longer if she missed her intended trip.
"It's just silly," she said.
Meantime, a Mercury reader has written a sarcastic letter "thanking" Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian for increasing his four-day-per-week commute by an hour each day.
"I was so looking forward to the delights of the new timetable and once again, the NSW government has lived up to their promise," Austinmer resident Brad Jones said.
"By the looks of it, I'll be enjoying the company of NSW Transport for an extra hour each day taking my travelling time to over 22 hours a week."
