A planned closure of a Sydney rail link won't free up any extra carriages for the South Coast line, according to Transport for NSW.
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For seven months from September this year, the link between Epping and Chatswood in Sydney’s north will be closed so the line can be upgraded for the Sydney Metro system.
This may have been good news for South Coast commuters on the afternoon trains from Central that have four carriages.
Commuters routinely complain about these crowded services, so Wollongong MP Paul Scully wrote to Transport Minister Andrew Constance asking if the South Coast line could have some of the carriages not being used on the Epping-Chatswood rail link (ECRL).
“In the absence of any further information to the contrary, this would appear to be a possible resolution to addressing the consistent overcrowding experienced on the South Coast line until the new intercity fleet carriages are rolled out for use in 2019,” Mr Scully wrote in his letter.
A Transport for NSW spokesman said there actually would not be any extra carriages available during the closure of that line.
The spokesman said services between Hornsby and the city that use that link will still be running, albeit on the T1 Northern Line.
“There will also be some service adjustments on the T1 North Shore Line to respond to the removal of trains that currently use the ECRL.
“Making this change to the network to allow for the T1 Northern and T1 North Shore lines to operate separately, means more trains are required, not less.”
In terms of the South Coast line he said the government had delivered “a number of improvements” including a timetable upgrade.
“We’ve got brand new intercity trains on the way and we’re investigating a combination of measures to improve capacity for customers including significant investment in new technology, fleet and infrastructure,” the Transport for NSW spokesman said.