News
16 June, 2026
Experiment highlights commuter challenge
Member for Wollondilly Judy Hannan hired a bus – the ‘Judy Express’ – that left Bowral train station at 6.31am yesterday (Monday) morning. It arrived at Glenfield station at 7.32am.
A simple experiment has highlighted the challenges facing commuters from the Southern Highlands.
Member for Wollondilly Judy Hannan hired a bus – the ‘Judy Express’ – that left Bowral train station at 6.31am yesterday (Monday) morning. It arrived at Glenfield station at 7.32am.
However people who caught a train that left Bowral at the same time didn’t arrive at Glenfield until 8am – with a change of trains at Campbelltown along the way.
By this time, some of the people on the ‘Judy Express’ had already caught a train from Glenfield and had almost arrived at Central Station in Sydney.
Mrs Hannan said the experiment had been designed to show that more efficient and reliable services could be provided for people in the Southern Highlands.
She said the trains currently being used were “slow, congested and unreliable”.
She said there was nowhere for commuters to plug their phones in and mobile reception was ‘patchy’ at best.
Mrs Hannan said the problems with the train service couldn’t be fixed overnight – but wants the NSW Government to look at other options in the meantime.
She said express bus services to Glenfield or another train station could be an appropriate short-term fix, but is happy for someone to come up with a better solution.
Mrs Hannan said she received more emails about the train service between the Southern Highlands and Sydney than any other issue, and reliability topped the list of concerns.
She said scheduling was also an issue, but “reliability has to be the first thing (fixed)”.
Mrs Hannan knows of elderly Bowral residents who moved back to Sydney because they were too old to drive and could no longer rely on public transport to get to their medical appointments.
Others had missed flights from Sydney Airport or other appointments in the city and were simply frustrated.
One woman on the ‘Judy Express’ said she felt like a “B grade citizen” living in the Southern Highlands because the public transport system was so bad.
“Introducing dedicated AM and PM peak (bus) services would be a practical step towards addressing the reliability issues that Southern Highlands commuters know all too well,” Mrs Hannan said yesterday.
“Whether travelling to work, school or important medical appointments, people deserve confidence that they can arrive on time – even when they’ve allowed plenty of time for connections.
“Reliable public transport isn’t a luxury – it’s an essential service,” Mrs Hannan said.
“Improving connections and supporting commuters across the Southern Highlands would make a real difference to our community.”
Mrs Hannan documented yesterday’s experiment and will produce a video to support her case when she takes the matter up with NSW Minister for Transport John Graham.
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