Mr Taylor, 63, is the carer for his disabled wife Jan and the pair like to take the train up to Sydney for an outing.

Earlier this week, they headed to Oak Flats station where he asked rail staff for a paper copy of the train timetable.

“We’d just like to know when we can get [a train] back home,” Mr Taylor explains.

But when he asked a station attendant for a copy, he got an answer that surprised him.

“They told me that they’re not giving out printed timetables any more,” he says.

“You can just look at them on your computer.”

That’s an option that doesn’t really work for Mr Taylor, who just wants to know what time he needs to get to the station.

“I don’t have a computer,” he says.

“I’m on a disability pension, I’ve been caring or my wife for the last 16 years. I have a $15 telephone from Coles, that’s my mobile phone.

“I only want it to make phone calls, that’s all I want it for. I don’t have the money to be spending $1000 for a smart phone. I’m not going to buy one just so I can see the timetable.”

Mr Taylor then visited the offices of Shellharbour MP Anna Watson, where a staffer called Oak Flats station.

They claimed the station master told them the NSW government doesn’t provide printed timetables any more.

And yet, when Mr Taylor went to the same station this week and asked for a timetable, one was handed to him without a fuss.

A Transport for NSW spokesman said people were encouraged to view timetables online to get the latest travel information – but other options were also available.

“Alternatively, more than 500,000 printed timetables have also been made available from station staff across the network, including at Oak Flats and many other South Coast stations, with more on the way,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman declined to say whether action would be taken over the earlier incorrect advice rail staff gave Mr Taylor.