Blue Mountains train commuters will enjoy direct connections to Redfern station on some peak services again following a backlash to the new timetable last November.
“We always said we’d review and tweak the timetable to make improvements where we can,” said NSW transport minister Andrew Constance.
“In the recent review of the timetable and in response to community feedback, Sydney Trains found an opportunity to include these extra stops at Redfern without impacting the new services or the network.”
NSW TrainLink Acting Chief Executive Howard Collins said that while changes made for the timetable introduced in November 2017 were designed to benefit the majority of customers, feedback has been listened to, particularly from the University of Sydney.
“Currently, Blue Mountains Line customers can change trains at Parramatta, Strathfield or Central to travel to Redfern,” Mr Collins said.
“We’ve always said we’re listening to customers and open to tweaking the new timetable and reintroducing the stop is a perfect example.
“We understand it’s more convenient for some Blue Mountains services to stop at Redfern, so we’ve made the change for a number of key services,” he said.
Redfern will be added as a stop to three morning and three afternoon peak services:
- The 5.44 am from Mt Victoria to Sydney
- The 6.14 am from Mt Victoria to Sydney
- The 6.45 am from Mt Victoria to Sydney
- The 4.33pm from Sydney to Katoomba
- The 5.03 pm from Sydney to Katoomba
- The 5.33pm from Sydney to Mt Victoria
The changes will be implemented as soon as possible following briefing of operational staff.
Blue Mountains MP Trish Doyle welcomed the reinstatement, saying Redfern was a “crucial stop for hundreds of passengers every day who needed to get to work or university and it should never have been removed in the first place”.
“It goes to show that people power can prevail against some of the sillier decisions made by this minister for transport and I thank everyone who contacted my office to voice their concern when this issue was first revealed on the front page of the Gazette last November.”
Transport for NSW will monitor the safety and operational impact of adding Redfern stops to these Blue Mountains Line services.
Blue Mountains customers received an extra 25,000 extra seats every week and 24 new weekend express services under the November timetable changes, which introduced more than 1500 services across the network.
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