Packed In Like Sardines: The Struggle Of A Sydney Train Trip

Imagine yourself, on a freezing cold winters morning being comforted and warmed not by the body of your partner lying in bed next to you but by the strangers you see everyday. The strangers who invade your personal space, the strangers whose body cologne burns your nostrils, the strangers who have been up close and personal in your business, the strangers your forced to interact with on Sydney Trains during peak hour.

This is an unfortunate scene for almost all train commuters travelling from the western suburbs into the glorified terrain that is the Sydney CBD. This is not luxury travel, no style or comfort to be seen. Instead it is a fight to occupy a space that provides centimeters of distance between yourself and the other passengers. Sydney trains are over packed, crowded and more of a nuisance for commuters than a convenience.

Sydney Trains are busy; there is no denying it. On average, one million journeys are made every weekday. Factor in weekends and it is estimated that 290 million journeys are made annually, only being accommodated by 2000 electric trains. Peak hour makes up the bulk of these journeys where daily commuters travel to school, work and home during the hours of 7–9am and 16:00–18:30pm. Higher levels of people lead to higher levels of crime on Sydney trains, government initiatives are introduced to rectify the problems however this all levels into comparison of other cities such as London, New York and Asian cities whom are leading the for take into reliable and efficient public transport systems.

The number of commuters on Sydney trains has a direct correlation to the levels of crime committed on trains and station platforms. We have a need to feel safe when around the people we are close to. This should also apply to the strangers we interact with daily on the train carriages. Only 13% of commuters out of a focus group of 12000 admitted to feeling safe on their daily commute. Assault is the most common crime committed on our railway network with almost 20 people a week assaulted, a figure that includes passengers and railway staff. A direct response to this would be to increase staff at each station however figures have shown that staff reductions are a common occurrence. In relation to train staff cooperate positions for transport New South Wales have surged with 312 positions being filled in the 2015 financial year. This spike has seen a decrease in station staff with 128 station and cabin staff being let go. So why are staffing numbers being reduced if our trains are over crowded and passengers are being attacked daily?

Sydney is a global national city that can learn from its international counterparts and adopt strategies to address the multitude of problems that occur daily on train trips. One study taken of the iconic New York sub way system determined Train Q to be the best in New York. This was deemed based on the following factors:

1. Accurate announcements that wear clear to commuters

2. Seat availability during peak hour

3. Cleanliness of the carriage

Sydney needs to look at these results and listen to its customers to create a better service. Customers want to know where they are going and how they can get to places. This does not happen if a customer is on a peak hour train that doesn’t have an electric notice board, instead having to rely on muffled and muted announcements made by cabin crews that are almost inaudible. Getting a seat during this time is almost impossible and the cleanliness of the carriage is clearly apparent with left over coffee mugs, tissues and newspapers crowding the floors and seats of the train. Just another thing the passenger has to try and navigate when positioning them in a space that doesn’t involve the touching of other customers.

Sydney also needs to look to growing nations such as Singapore and the Switzerland who are leading the way in public transport. Singapore is currently in the process of developing one of the fastest trains in the world to expand there ever growing public transport network. Switzerland’s operation of the Swiss Federal Railway is considered one of the best public transport systems in the world, with 90% of travellers arriving to their destination on time, with 98% always arriving on time for connected services.

All in all Sydney Trains is vastly crumbling not being able to accommodate for the high volume of daily commuters. Whilst the government are always proposing strategies and solutions to rectify these problems, none have been implemented that have improved the service for Sydney train commuters.

So next time you’re on a train travelling to the city. Spare a thought for the person you are squashing, maybe even say hello because at this rate we are more likely to get a seat on the Virgin Galactic then a Sydney Train.