Bronwyn Batten is one of the Illawarra commuters frustrated by overcrowding on the South Coast train line.
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The Thirroul resident travels to Hurstville three days a week for work and finds having to stand up isn’t unusual.
“I just moved to Wollongong this year and, particularly on the journey home, not being able to get a seat was pretty frustrating and other people were in the same boat,” Ms Batten said.
“There are school kids in the aisles along with people with luggage and elderly people who can’t get seats.”
She said the 3.45pm and 4.15pm trains from Hurstville to the South Coast were particularly overcrowded – because they were only four carriages.
So Ms Batten approached the Illawarra Greens about starting a campaign and petition to reduce crowding on the trains.
“This petition of passengers using the South Coast rail line and concerned residents of the Illawarra and South Coast brings to the attention of the House the severe state of overcrowding of many South Coast line services,” the petition states.
It calls for the government “to immediately increase the capacity of overcrowded South Coast line services with the addition of new carriages and extra services”.
The Illawarra Greens’ Mithra Cox said overcrowding on South Coast trains was “something that our members have been really upset about for a while”.
Ms Cox said the aim is to collect 10,000 signatures, which is the magic number that will trigger a debate on the issue in NSW parliament.
She said Greens members planned to board the 7.18am train at Wollongong station on Thursday and collect as many signatures as possible before it arrives at Thirroul.
... particularly on the journey home, not being able to get a seat was pretty frustrating."
- South Coast rail commuter Bronwyn Batten
“There are three things that need to be fixed,” Ms Cox said.
“One is the frequency of trains – we need more than one local service an hour or every two hours on a weekend.
“We need more carriages on some trains too. And the other thing is line straightening, which could drastically speed up trains to Sydney.
“Any one of those things would make a difference.
“You could start with the easy ones – like putting more carriages on those four-carriage trains.”
The petition is on the Illawarra Greens site (illawarragreens.nationbuilder.com)