The state government has committed to implementing all 12 recommendations of the Walsh review, which examined fundamentals of the NSW train network and found many “deep-seated problems” with how it was being run.
An interim report from the review, established in April, was handed to the government last week.
The report said the operations of the network, including major maintenance backlogs, network incidents and ongoing inconvenience to passengers, was the result of timetable changes made in 2017.
Among some of the recommendations for reform include shifting lines of reporting and responsibility, including making the Sydney Trains chief executive report to the Transport for NSW secretary, and be represented on department executive committees.
The interim report also recommended that the chief executive be directly accountable to the minister on “critical issues”.
Transport minister Jo Haylen said the network’s reliability had plummeted since 2017 — and the timetable changes with on-time running at an all-time low and train service cancellation at an all-time high — had been a compounding reason for this.
“It’s clear that the ‘black swan’ events — floods, fires, covid — of the past few years have had an impact on performance and reliability, but as the data shows, that’s not the whole story.
“Its not in the imagination of the travelling public that the trains have been getting worse. This data proves it,” Haylen said, referring to the interim report.
“The interim recommendations put forward by the review team today are the first steps on the path to restoring the resilience and reliability of the NSW railway,” she added.
According to the interim report, Sydney Trains’ 2017 timetable intended to get more trains running more often.
However, the operational maintenance backlog caused the network to be unreliable and led to system failures because. This was likely to exacerbate safety issues, the review found, and see network resilience “rapidly deteriorate”.
The report also added that a fragile network was also one that would not effectively recover from incidents when they occurred, calling for underlying risks to be addressed rather than left to worsen.
“The review team have examined the fundamentals of the rail network and found that the network is neither resilient nor reliable,” Haylen said.
“The government will accept all 12 recommendations from this interim report.”
In addition to advice changing Sydney Trains’ executive reporting lines, the recommendations included the expansion of a “passenger-focused team” which can respond more flexibly and rapidly to disruption; that urgent and large-scale program of works be identified to tackle the five-year backlog of system maintenance; moving responsibility for the standard working timetable from the department to Sydney Trains; and ensuring the timetabling team report to the Sydney Trains chief executive.
Other major reforms at Sydney Trains were suggested in the recommendations like giving permanent status to key executive positions; redistributing the power back to Sydney Trains to directly manage relationships with its workforce and representatives; and undertaking an audit of recertifications and training for rail safety workers.
The interim report further advised the Sydney Trains workforce to be “comprehensively engaged” during the procurement, design and construction of new rolling stock; and evaluating whether to move the Intercity fleet and its operations from NSW Trainlink to Sydney Trains.
Longer-term solutions for the rail network will now be considered by the Walsh review, which is set to consider issues such as how to integrate rail network operations when major projects are being designed and built; making the network modern and fit-for-future-purpose; and training to ensure the network works best for passengers.
The review will also look at shaping the 2024 timetable review and how to deliver a timetable that strikes the right balance between delivering great passenger service and allowing time to keep it running reliably.
The government said it would now work on shorter-term issues such as customer communication technology upgrades, multi-modal customer information screens, a crewing app and lifting rapid incident response capability.
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Sydney trains most efficient without passengers: Review blames ambitious timetables and black swans