South Coast trains had real problems with running on time throughout 2022 - there was only one month where the line reached the benchmark that measures punctuality.
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Transport for NSW sets a performance target of 92 per cent of trains arriving within six minutes of its scheduled time.
This it said was in line with international benchmarks.
In 2022, the only month the line met that target was in January, when 92.8 per cent of trains arrived close to when commuters expected them to turn up.
The worst months were March and April, with 48.8 per cent and 52.2 per cent - though those were months when the broader rail network was seriously affected by storms.
A Transport for NSW spokeswoman said those storms also caused the closure of the privately operated Moss-Vale Unanderra line for months, which led to "a significant increase" in freight services on the South Coast line.
"Those extreme weather events in March and April, as well as more throughout the year, caused flooding damage and led to temporary rail line closures, reduced services and temporary speed restrictions imposed for safety reasons," the spokeswoman said.
"Consistent rainfall created a difficult environment for the clean-up effort."
She said Transport for NSW was continuing to work on improving the number of trains that arrived on time.
Illawarra rail commuter Harris Cheung wasn't surprised that January was the only month in 2022 that the South Coast line hit its monthly frequency benchmarks.
"This time of the year the trains are almost empty," he said.
"There's not many many passengers, not many things going, the weather's reasonably nice so it will run on time.
"It's almost like when the rail network is running at capacity it just cannot cope.
"When there are too many passengers, when there's too many events going on or there's someone sick or bad weather, it just cannot do it."
Mr Cheung felt the rail line was overdue for some attention.
"There hasn't been any real investment into the infrastructure that aims to improve travelling time and the reliability," Mr Cheung said.
He felt one way of encouraging that was to get more people to use the rail line, which would then provide a financial incentive to increase services and infrastructure.
"Now the service is not so good so there are a lot of people avoiding using it," he said.
"Therefore they don't get enough revenue and the numbers don't stack up to put more resources back in."
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.
