The New South Wales government has unveiled a $6.8 billion commitment to upgrade the South Coast rail line, promising to electrify tracks, add passing loops and separate freight from passenger services, just days after abandoning a planned timetable overhaul that had angered commuters along the route.
Premier Chris Minns announced the commitment in Bomaderry, with planning set to begin in 2027 and construction targeted for completion in the mid to late 2030s. The project is being described by the government as the largest heavy rail infrastructure commitment in generations for the Illawarra and South Coast regions.
What the South Coast Rail Plan includes
The centrepiece of the plan is the electrification of the rail line between Kiama and Bomaderry, which would allow passengers to travel from Sydney all the way to Nowra without having to switch to the diesel train that currently completes that leg of the journey.
Additional works include extra tracks and passing loops between Wollongong and Kiama, as well as a doubling of the tracks between Hurstville and Sutherland. That last element is intended to separate passenger and freight trains, which Transport Minister John Graham said would unlock significant capacity across the network.
"At the moment that's a real constraint on the network that will allow a service uplift for this whole line," Graham said, adding the separation would be a major boost to what services could be delivered.
The plan also sets aside $621 million for early infrastructure upgrades, some of which are already under way following funding allocated in the most recent state budget through the Illawarra Rail Resilience Plan.
A commitment made days after a timetable controversy
The timing of the announcement is significant. Just two days earlier, the NSW government scrapped a planned November timetable overhaul after strong community backlash. Commuters had objected to longer travel times and the removal of a direct airport connection at Wolli Creek, which had been proposed in exchange for more frequent T4 and South Coast line services.
Minister for the Illawarra Ryan Park said no short-term alternative changes to improve the line were being considered, framing the multi-billion dollar upgrade as the priority instead. Park described the investment as a "must-have" on a corridor where passenger demand is forecast to grow by almost 30 per cent by 2041.
South Coast Labor MP Liza Butler welcomed the announcement, saying regional communities had long been overlooked while funding flowed to Sydney Metro projects. "We have seen money tunnelled into Sydney Metro while we have been left behind. Well, no more," she said.
A long history of broken promises on this line
The Premier acknowledged the plan would be met with scepticism, given the region's experience with unfulfilled commitments stretching back decades. Labor first pledged to electrify the Kiama to Bomaderry section at the 2005 NSW election, a promise that was never delivered.
A version of the upgrade was also proposed ahead of the 2019 state election by then-Liberal incumbent Gareth Ward, but that plan was dropped in 2023 by both the incoming Labor government and the opposition.
"There's some people who will never believe it until they jump on an electrified train from Bomaderry," Minns said, conceding public cynicism was understandable.
The Premier said he hoped confidence could be built by pointing to other infrastructure promises his government had followed through on. "I'm hoping we can draw on some of the goodwill associated with previous projects that we said we'd deliver and we have," he said.
What happens next
With the NSW state election due next year, the $6.8 billion South Coast Rail Plan is a major election commitment from the Minns Labor government. Planning work is expected to begin in 2027, with the full project, including the long-promised Kiama to Bomaderry electrification, targeted for delivery by the mid to late 2030s. Early infrastructure works funded through the state budget are already progressing on the ground.
