Nearly a year on from Labor coming to power in NSW, there is little to show for two key election promises for the Illawarra's creaking transport network.
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Prior to the election, Labor committed $10 million to a rail resilience plan for the Illawarra, after the region was cut off due to heavy rains causing landslides on the South Coast line and the Moss Vale-Unanderra freight line.
In a media release, NSW Labor said the plan would examine all infrastructure on the South Coast Line, "and determine options to improve, upgrade, and rebuild sections of the line to enhance the resilience of connections with Port Kembla, Southwestern Sydney, and the South Coast".
"The passenger and freight lines have been tangled up in the Illawarra for more than a century. Labor will begin the work to separate them by delivering an initial review of the whole Illawarra Rail Network, followed by a more detailed business case," transport minister Jo Haylen said at the time.
Keira MP and now minister for the Illawarra Ryan Park went further, telling the Mercury that the review could consider restarting the long dormant Maldon-Dombarton rail line construction project.
The scuppered rail link has long been the focus of consistent advocacy and has been touted as the missing link between the Illawarra and the rapidly growing areas of West and Southwest Sydney.
As the initial business case, which relied on the transport of coal from the western coal fields to Port Kembla for export, has gone out of date, leaders in the Illawarra have said the rise of the aerotropolis means the rail link should be back on the table, with steel, cement and other construction materials manufactured and imported in Port Kembla.
This has led to the project coming in at the top of the list of Business Illawarra's wishlist for the next state budget, scheduled for June.
"Our research on rail connectivity in the region has quantified the need for improved rail connectivity between the Illawarra and Western Sydney, and so we have advocated for a rail network resilience masterplan for the Illawarra which includes a business case for the South West Illawarra Rail Link," Mr Zarth said.
A spokesperson for Transport for NSW said the plan was in the "early stages of development".
"Development of an Illawarra Rail Resilience Plan is a current government commitment," the spokesperson said.
"The plan will examine options to improve the resilience, reliability and connectivity between the South Coast line, Port Kembla and South West Sydney."
The peak business group for the region has also called for additional funding for Picton Road upgrades, affordable housing, renewal of the entertainment precinct and urban renewal around Wollongong hospital and train station.
Another task Mr Zarth has set for local MPs is to progress the Illawarra Renewable Energy Zone, which has not seen a project get off the drawing board yet.
Not on the list but also causing frustrations for Illawarra rail commuters is the lack of progress on a timetable review for services on the South Coast line.
The review would assess the effectiveness of hub stations and express services, with commuters driving to stations such as North Wollongong, Thirroul and Helensburgh due to a lack of efficient feeder services, Ms Haylen said when announcing the review.
In November last year, at the opening of new lifts at Unanderra train station, Ms Haylen told reporters that any changes to services on the south coast line would have to wait until the new Mariyung fleet came into service locally, which is not expected before 2025.
"There are works ongoing about timetable changes, they'll come in progressively," Ms Haylen said in November.
The Transport spokesperson reiterated the government's long-standing promise of adding an additional service every hour between Wollongong and the Sydney CBD, but did not say when this would occur.
This commitment was also made in 2019 by the former Liberal government.
