LATE: Only 84.8 per cent of Maitland train services are running on time.
Trains on the Newcastle-Hunter line have been constantly late during the past six months with the line named the worst commuter train service in NSW for May.
And Maitland commuters are fed up with constantly late trains.
The 9am train to Telarah from Newcastle left at 9.15am yesterday morning and the evening trains from Maitland to Newcastle usually run 15 minutes late.
The 8.12pm train from Maitland to Newcastle is frequently 30 minutes to more than an hour late and it usually arrives at Newcastle station after the 9pm train.
Commuters travelling from Maitland to Newcastle last Tuesday endured a 90 minute trip when the 5.32pm train arrived late at Maitland and missed its connection with a bus to Newcastle from Broadmeadow station because of track work.
The line is supposed to meet a 92 per cent on time arrival benchmark, where a train is marked late if it does not arrive within five minutes of the scheduled time.
But it has not reached that since August 2011 when it clocked 94.5 per cent.
Opposition Leader John Robertson said Premier Barry O’Farrell and Maitland MP Robyn Parker must act to restore faith in the public transport system.
“During May, the Hunter line had the most delays of any line in the state,” he said.
“Only 84.8 per cent of Maitland train services are running on time – well below the government’s own target of 92 per cent.
“Maitland residents need to have confidence that the Hunter line can get them to commitments in Newcastle on time.
“Instead, time and again they are being stranded far too long on the platform.”
RailCorp data shows that in December 2011 and January 2012 the on time figures reached 90 per cent, but March plummeted to 76.5 per cent and May only rose to 84.8 per cent.
The government said, while in opposition, that trains should be marked late if they do not arrive within one minute of their scheduled time in a press release issued on January 30, 2007.
The Mercury contacted RailCorp but they had not responded by yesterday evening when the paper went to press.
