Plan your return to work and school trip following severe weather event

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Drivers and passengers are urged to spend some time planning their return to work and school journeys from tomorrow, or consider working from home, with major impacts still being experienced across the state’s road and public transport network following this weekend’s severe weather event.

Transport for NSW Acting Coordinator-General Grant Knoetze said drivers need to take extreme care on the roads and avoid all non-essential travel in affected areas, with the impact of heavy rain and flooding likely to be felt across the coming days.

“Motorists across Sydney and surrounding regions also need to exercise caution as some road surfaces may have deteriorated and have potholes. Council and Transport crews will work as quickly as possible to repair the damage.”

“Please check livetraffic.com for the most up-to-date information on road closures before heading out, follow the directions of our traffic crews, reduce speed, and never drive into floodwaters,” Mr Knoetze said. 

“Public transport services will also run to altered timetables as recovery from the rain event continues and passengers need to check the Trip Planner or transport apps, consider an alternative transport mode if your usual route is impacted and allow plenty of extra travel time.”

Other impacts being felt across the transport network include:

Rail

Sydney Trains Chief Executive Matt Longland said crews continue to manage the impacts of localised flooding and land slip risks across the rail network, causing impacts to rail service delivery.

“The South Coast line between Waterfall and Bomaderry is closed due to damage along the line. Buses are replacing trains in both directions between Waterfall to Bomaderry, inclusive of Wollongong to Port Kembla,” Mr Longland said.

Other major impacts include:

  • Infrastructure crews remain at an incident affecting one City-bound line in Westmead. Some diversions will be in place to facilitate the remediation works. A reduced train service will operate between Merrylands and Canley Vale in that direction only on the T2 Inner West & Leppington and T5 Cumberland Lines until rectified.   
  • Some speed restrictions remain in place across the network. Notably, the Central Coast/Newcastle line from Berowra to Gosford, on the T1 North Shore line from Chatswood to Hornsby and on the T4 Illawarra line from Arncliffe to Waterfall. 

“The safety of our people and passengers is always our first priority and our engineers and work crews are mobilised across the rail network to assess and repair the damage. 

“Please check service status prior to traveling and avoid unnecessary travel. 

Thank you for working with us during this challenging time and please continue to show our frontline workers understanding and patience,” Mr Longland said.

Roads

Transport for NSW Chief Customer Officer Roger Weeks said in the south, one of two lanes on Lawrence Hargrave Drive will be reopened under ‘stop and slow’ conditions between Coalcliff Station and Clifton School Parade after debris and damage closed the road. 

“As we continue to undertake assessments, we will have a clearer understanding of the amount of work and time required to fix the road. We thank motorists for their patience and understanding during this process. We are working as quickly as we can to fully reopen the road,” Mr Weeks said.

Other major impacts include:

  • Megalong Road remains closed between Shipley Road and Peach Tree Road in Blackheath due to significant damage caused by the rain. Council engineers are assessing the situation.  
  • The Newell Highway has been reopened between Boggabilla and Moree. 
  • Bells Line of Road is closed in both directions at Richmond Bridge due to flooding. 
  • Pitt Town Road/Cattai Road is closed in both directions between Wolsely Road and Pitt Town Dural Road 
  • Springwood Road is closed at Yarramundi Bridge in both directions between Castlereagh Road and Mountain Avenue. 
  • Audley Weir is closed in both directions between Audley Road and Sir Bertram Stevens Drive 

Maritime

  • NSW Maritime is encouraging all waterway users to delay non-essential boating upon the Hawkesbury/ Nepean River, and other flood affected waterways, due to large trees and other debris in the water. 
  • Across NSW waterways heavy rain and flooding has caused debris to wash into waterways and form hazards to vessel navigation. These hazards will remain present for days and even weeks after the weather clears. 

For the latest traffic information, download the Live Traffic NSW app, visit livetraffic.com or call 132 701. 

For the latest service impacts on the public transport network please visit transportnsw.info  

Flood information:  

  • For the latest information on current warnings and evacuation centres, visit the NSW SES website – www.ses.nsw.gov.au
  • Members of the public seeking emergency assistance during a flood or storm should call the NSW State Emergency Service on 132 500 or visit their website ses.nsw.gov.au. 
  • For the latest weather warnings, please visit the Bureau of Meteorology website: bom.gov.au

In all life-threatening situations and emergencies, the public are advised to contact Triple Zero (000). 

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