Trains cancelled due to equipment faults

A 7News investigation has found faulty equipment is causing train delays affecting hundreds of thousands of Sydney commuters.

More than 400 trips were cancelled in the past year, and transport experts say the problem is getting worse.

For commuters, cancelled trains can be chaotic and frustrating.

Jim Donovan from the Action for Public Transport group says it’s utterly unacceptable.

“The boss can't handle it when everybody's half an hour late for work,” Donovan said.

The latest government statistics obtained by 7News reveal which lines had the most problems over the last year.

The Eastern suburbs line which runs from Bondi Junction through to the Illawarra had 144 cancellations, while the North Shore had 42.

The Airport line had 31, the western line 27, and the Bankstown line 25, which totals 452 cancellations for the year.

Shadow Transport Minister Penny Sharpe says that’s nine trains being cancelled every week.

“There's about 1000 people on a train in peak hour so that's 9000 people a week stranded," Sharpe said.

She says passengers deserve better.

"City rail has put in its worst on time running performance in four years and these figures show reliability is slipping.”

Equipment failure caused more than half of the cancellations (53%), while bad weather (13%), passenger disturbances (10%), and driver error also contribute (6%).

The unions say passengers are entitled to have faith in the public transport system.

These figures show that there's an urgent need for funding in the system,” Jessica Robertson from the Rail, Tram and Bus Union said.

The Transport Minister admits there have been too many cancellations, but denies the problem is worsening.

She says the State Government has put on more services over the past year.

"Since we've been in Government we've introduced 60 additional weekly rail services, that's 3000 every year on top of what commuters are getting," Gladys Berejiklian said.