Rubenerd

Matt O’Sullivan wrote this for the Sydney Morning Herald this morning, having received material from a state government freedom of information request:

Peak-hour delays due to Sydney Trains’ fleet surged by 41 per cent in the six months to June, compared with the same period a year earlier.

I can believe it. While he attributed the issues to reliance on older rail stock, that number popped up again in an article he wrote in 2017:

Some 41 per cent of trains passing through Central Station during the morning rush hour in March were overcrowded, compared with 25 per cent six months earlier.

Passengers begin to suffer from overcrowding when trains have loads of 135 per cent, which is the benchmark used by transport officials.

This is what underinvestment looks like.