Sydney trains still too late: oppn - Ninemsn

Rail commuters are paying more for travel on Sydney trains that are running unacceptably late, the state opposition says.

In a statement, Labor transport spokeswoman Penny Sharpe said CityRail figures for February showed five train lines missed the "basic on-time running benchmark".

Between nine and 18 per cent of trains on the Blue Mountains, Western, Newcastle, South Coast, and North Shore lines ran late in February.

"These figures confirm commuters are being forced to wait for late and overdue trains more often under the O'Farrell government," Ms Sharpe said.

"February was a horror month for train delays and unfortunately, the delays haven't got much better in March."

She said delays were increasing as fares were rising.

But Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said public transport fares were not increasing beyond inflation.

"The government has always been clear that public transport fares will only increase in line with CPI until there are demonstrable improvements in customer service," she said on Friday.

"I have made it very clear the major Fixing the Trains reform program we have undertaken will not happen overnight."

Single MyTrain tickets went up by by 20 cents in January, and MyTrain weekly tickets went up by $1.

The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal had recommended maximum fare increases of up to 3.6 per cent for CityRail.

"The NSW government decided not to increase fares to the full amount recommended by IPART, instead increasing fares in line with the cost of living only," CityRail says on its website.

A RailCorp spokeswoman said overall on-time running for CityRail in February was 92.7 per cent for suburban and intercity lines, above the 92 per cent target.

"CityRail is committed to getting customers to their destinations safely and on time no matter where or when they travel," she said in a statement.

"When incidents occur on the network, CityRail works hard to restore services back to normal as quickly as possible."

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