More rail pain for NSW government - The Australian

COMPLAINTS about the cleanliness and efficiency of trains have risen, as has the time it takes motorists to travel home in the afternoon, a NSW government report says.

Releasing the eighth volume of his report to parliament, auditor-general Peter Archterstraat said while praise of RailCorp had risen 32 per cent, there were still 10 complaints for every compliment.

The largest spike in complaints related to the on-time running and cleanliness of trains.

This year there have been 1,920 complaints about the tidiness of trains, up 405 or 26.7 per cent from 2011.

It "was all very well" for taxpayers to demand more cleaners be put on trains but public transport users should take more responsibility for their rubbish, said Mr Archterstraat, a regular train user.

Tardiness is costing millions a year, he added.

"Wouldn't it be better if there was no rubbish there," he told reporters.

"People leaving rubbish on the train makes it unpleasant for everybody else."

Complaints about on-time running, defined as a train leaving no more than five minutes later than scheduled, had risen 17.7 per cent to 3,924 for 2012.

In the past, 14 of the 16 rail networks had met the 92 per cent on-time running target, but this year only 9 had managed to do so, Mr Archterstraat said.

"On average, 92 per cent of the trains are on time, but it depends which line you're on," he said.

The East Hills, South, Western, Northern via Strathfield, South Coast, Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands, Hunter and Newcastle and Central Coast lines are all operating below the 92 per cent target, according to the report.

The NSW public is dissatisfied with the state and reliability of trains, but jumping into the car for the afternoon commute won't be any better.

Afternoon peak hour speeds on Sydney's biggest roads have slowed by several km/h over the past year.

The biggest impact will be felt by users of the M2-Lane Cove Tunnel/Gore Hill freeway, with average speeds dropping 8 km/h from 60 km/h down to 52 km/h.

The report also found complaints against taxi drivers had risen while compliments fell.

This year there have been 11,380 reports of dissatisfaction against taxi drivers, up from 10,129 in 2011.

There have been 430 compliments made about taxi drivers in 2012, compared with 503 last year.

About 90 per cent of complaints related to driver misbehaviour and fare disputes, Mr Archterstraat said.