The use of public transport has skyrocketed within Sydney to unprecedented levels. This has created a large demand for train services, not just during the peak-hours of working days but also for leisure & travel outside working hours.

Here is a graph showing the growth of public transportation use in Sydney from 2015 to 2016:

The graph is courtesy of Pete Wargent.

According to the data, the use of trains went up from 328 million in 2015 to 363 million in 2016 which translates to an 11% increase where population growth remained well under 2%.

There was also an increase of bus usage from 257 million to 290 million which could also be in conjunction to high rail patronage as people choose to take a bus to the nearest railway station rather than drive to it.

This could be a sign that residents are getting tired of sitting in traffic & would prefer the convenience a train trip provides. Congestion on Sydney roads is the worst in Australia & has been for quite some time.

The NSW Government under the $1.5 Billion “More Trains, More Services” program has unveiled a plan to significantly increase capacity to several rail lines across Sydney, which will make the Sydney trains system a lot more functional to serve the Sydney metro network.

Here is a list of services which will be added, courtesy of Transport for NSW:

• T1 Western Line: frequency to the city doubled at stations between Penrith and Doonside with two additional trains every hour, or a train on average every 15 minutes throughout the majority of the day.
• T1 Northern Line: frequency doubled between Epping and Central via Strathfield on weekends with an extra two services every hour, or a train every 15 minutes.
• T1 North Shore Line: an extra two trains per hour during the day for customers at Chatswood, Artarmon, St Leonards, North Sydney and Milsons Point.
• T2 Airport Line: all T2 Airport Line stations will receive a minimum 15-minute frequency throughout the majority of the day.
• T5 Cumberland Line: more than 160 new weekend services connecting South Western Sydney, Western Sydney, and North West Sydney.
• T6 Carlingford Line: service frequency doubled during the day with an additional train every hour on weekends or a train every 30 minutes.
• Blue Mountains Line: twenty-four dedicated express trains between the Blue Mountains and Sydney CBD.

These additions will ensure that there will be a train at least every 15 minutes throughout most of the day on most lines. This is a big win for the train network & everyone using public transport on weekends.

In total there will be approximately 750 new services in addition to the current weekend services.

It is expected that these services will be added in late 2017, however, no exact date has been confirmed at this stage.