Rail commuters could save as much as an hour travel time with the trialling of a bus service on the South Coast.
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The bus will run between Kiama and Bomaderry stations, which is serviced by diesel trains on a single track.
Kiama MP Gareth Ward has long been concerned with the gaps in the timetable where commuters have to change from one train to another.
“For people who use this line, often they’re stranded here at Kiama for an hour or even more as they wait for the next connecting rail service,” Mr Ward said.
To address this, the government will trial a bus service between Kiama and Bomaderry to supplement the diesel services.
“This is not in any way about removing services, it is about enhancing services,” Mr Ward said.
The trial is now under way with 10 bus services each weekday – five northbound and five southbound.
The earliest leaves Bomaderry station at 5.50am and the latest bus departs Kiama at 8.15pm.
There will be no extra charge for catching the bus rather than a train, but commuters will still need to tap their Opal card on or off at the station.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance was at Kiama to announce the trial of the Route 737 service.
“Put simply, this is about enhancing the number of connecting services to and from Kiama,” Mr Constance said.
“The introduction of this bus route will not lead to a decrease in train services.
We’re going to run a trial for 12 months and see how the community goes with it.
“It’s now up to the community to use the service.”
If the results of the trial are positive, Mr Ward said he would push for the bus runs to become permanent.