Rail transport expert Associate Professor Phillip Laird said the average train trip from the South Coast to Central Station was embarrassingly long compared with those in other states of Australia.

‘‘What I usually do is look at Thirroul to Central which is 72km,’’ Prof Laird said.

‘‘Around the country you’ve got Perth to Mandurah which does that day in, day out, in 42 minutes.

‘‘Melbourne-Geelong or one of the Gold Coast stations to Roma Street [in Brisbane] is 60 minutes but we’re stuck with 90 minutes.

‘‘Our NSW trains are slow, not only by international standards but even by Australian standards.’’

In news that will surely make South Coast commuters jealous, trains on that Perth-Mandurah route travel the distance faster than a car can.

‘‘Perth to Mandurah in 48minutes, you can’t drive that distance legally in that time,’’ Prof Laird said.

‘‘And they go every 10 minutes in peak hours. Just imagine a train from Thirroul to Central taking 48 minutes.’’

Instead, the South Coast line was stuck with express trains that Prof Laird said averaged just 55km/h. And the all-stations trains were worse.

‘‘Some of them will average up to two hours,’’ Prof Laird said. ‘‘There’s one that leaves Wollongong at three o’clock and stops everywhere and takes forever.’’

Prof Laird said the winding tracks and the age of the trains were among the reasons the South Coast line was so slow.

‘‘It’s partly the track, between here and Sydney we’ve got steam-age track.

‘‘Between Waterfall and Thirroul it’s far too curvy, and that can be straightened out with things called bulldozers and tunnels.

‘‘The next problem in NSW was the tragic Waterfall accident.

‘‘After the high-speed derailment the rail administration, with the support of the government of the day, went into a very risk-averse manner.

‘‘So in 2005 they slowed down the timetable.

‘‘In 1988 there was a train from Wollongong to Sydney that did it in 75 minutes. 

‘‘The best you get today is 89 minutes.

‘‘That was the very best in the timetable, on a Saturday morning, but it shows you what is possible.’’

Vicki Steele, who had caught the train from her Minnamurra home to Bellambi yesterday for her granddaughter’s Book Week event, said she felt the trip was no slower than had she taken a car.

But she thought regular commuters probably felt differently.

 ‘‘Going to Sydney in peak hour every day must be very frustrating.

‘‘More express trains would be good. When I go to Sydney I drive to Sutherland because it’s difficult for us to get a train from Minnamurra into the city.’’