Fewer staff, fewer clean trains

An increase in passenger complaints about the cleanliness of Sydney trains is no surprise, the Loco Division says.

Passengers made 1088 complaints about dirty trains and 496 about unclean station in the 12 months leading up to July.

Crew compartments have also been suffering, with many drivers reporting the staff shortage is resulting in dirtier working areas.

The union says that with many cleaning positions left unfilled, it was inevitable that the cleanliness of trains would suffer.

“If you leave positions unfilled, it’s only natural that the cleanliness of the network will suffer,” Bob Hayden said.

“The cleaning service on the trains is just another example of a NSW Government’s privatisation plan that hasn’t worked.

“The travelling public, as well as workers on the system are again suffering at the hands of government cost cutting.”

The Newcastle/Central Coast line received the most complaints, increasing 53 per cent on the previous year.