The NSW Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian has announced a comprehensive reform of RailCorp, to be led by David Callahan, the former CEO of Sydney Ferries. 

 

"RailCorp costs $3.7 billion a year to run – that's $10 million a day - and it's important to ensure taxpayers are getting good value, and customers are getting good service," Ms Berejiklian.

 

Ms Berejiklian said the reform project follows the recent establishment of the new integrated transport authority, Transport for NSW.

 

"Transport for NSW ensures policy and planning experts from all transport agencies are now working together in the one organisation, meaning they no longer work in silos.


"This reform project is looking at how RailCorp can now get on with its sole task of providing a reliable and efficient transport service for customers," Ms Berejiklian said.

 

She said RailCorp's costs were escalating at an alarming rate and the organisation would be unsustainable in the future unless changes were made.


"Costs are going up at about three times the rate of the increase in passenger journeys," Ms Berejiklian said.

 

"Between 2006-07 and 2010-11, operating costs rose by almost 30 per cent, up $588 million to $2.6 billion per year, while passenger journeys rose by about by nine per cent, from 269 to 294 million annually."

 

"This reform will put RailCorp in a more financially sustainable position and increase its focus on delivering real improvements for customers.


"The rail network is the backbone of the public transport system in Sydney, so it's important that RailCorp is set up to deliver efficient, reliable and customer-focused services.

 

RailCorp is Australia's largest passenger rail network with 307 CityRail stations, 1,685 carriages and 2,110 kilometres of track. It has more than 15,000 employees with 294.5 million passenger journeys taken on the system last year.