The South Coast train line could be “overwhelmed” by the thousands of people attending the Elton John show later this month, according to Wollongong MP Paul Scully.
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The musician is playing his only NSW show at WIN Stadium on Sunday, September 24.
Around 21,000 tickets have been sold for the show.
Half of the tickets were bought by fans outside the Illawarra, and Mr Scully reckoned many of them will be catching a train into the city.
In a letter to Transport Minister Andrew Constance, Mr Scully said the expected crowds would swamp the existing Sunday afternoon services.
“I urge you to note that it is very likely that existing passenger services on the South Coast line will be overwhelmed on Sunday, September 24, due to the Elton John concert in Wollongong,” Mr Scully wrote.
The Wollongong MP said the city had already seen what can happen to the Sunday afternoon and evening train services during an event at WIN Stadium.
“A couple of weekends ago, following a Dragons game, we had people standing most of the way if not all of the way back to Sydney,” Mr Scully said.
“I’ve approached [Transport Minister] Andrew Constance to see if we can get some more carriages onto services before this upcoming weekend.
“This is to make sure that people have the access to the transport services they need and, most importantly, that they don’t get the impression that coming down to Wollongong by public transport is a hassle.”
He said it was important that people’s experience of coming to Wollongong was a good one, which would increase the likelihood of them coming back.
Transport for NSW has confirmed extra carriages and trains will be running on the South Coast line on September 24.
“Before the concert a number of trains into Wollongong from Kiama and Sydney will run as eight cars instead of four,” a spokesman said.
“For concert goers getting home there will be two extra trains departing Wollongong in each direction and other trains running with extra capacity.”
For those driving to the city, the spokesman said they would use the M1 Princes Motorway, rather than Bulli Pass.
“As the traffic generated from the event will impact Mount Ousley outside of peak flow periods, the network capacity will sufficiently cater for the event traffic and the traffic generated as a result of the closure of Bulli Pass,” he said.
He also said Roads and Maritime would monitor traffic volumes on the day.
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
