Rail Freight Performance

Rail freight plays a vital role in supporting NSW’s economy, helping to move goods efficiently, reduce road crashes and congestion, and lower emissions.

While the main purpose of the Metropolitan Rail Network is to support passenger services, sections of this network are still critical for the movement of freight services.

Transparent performance reporting is a key tool to monitor the performance of this network, improve the service level offering of rail freight and help achieve the government’s objectives to increase rail mode share.

Transport for NSW and Sydney Trains have committed to improving transparency and accountability through public reporting of key freight performance measures for rail services operating on the MRN. These are:

  • Service Level Charter commitments
  • Lost Freight Minutes.

Over time, these metrics will be refined and additional metrics introduced to improve the robustness of performance reporting.

Service Level Charter Reporting

Metropolitan Rail Network – Service Level Charter

The Service Level Charter (SLC) was introduced in July 2024 and defines the commitments made by Transport for NSW (TfNSW) and Sydney Trains to third-party rail operators, who hold an access agreement for the Metropolitan Rail Network.

The SLC outlines our commitments on the Metropolitan Rail Network in relation to:

  • The Standard Working Timetable;
  • The Daily Working Timetable; and
  • Rolling Stock requests (including Rolling Stock Registration and Train Operating Conditions Manual waiver requests).

The SLC is an interim measure to demonstrate our commitment to improving the service levels for our rail customers.

A copy of the approved SLC is available here (PDF, 271.33 KB).

For any enquiries relating to the SLC please email RailAccess@transport.nsw.gov.au.
Rail operators may also notify potential non-compliance with the SLC by emailing RailAccess@transport.nsw.gov.au.

Public Reporting

Public reporting is available for each quarter from October 2024, displaying TfNSW and Sydney Trains’ compliance with the processes and timeframes as outlined in the SLC.

These reports aim to identify any opportunities for improvement relating to the service provided for third party rail operators on the Metropolitan Rail Network.

2024/2025 Reporting

Lost Freight Minutes Reporting

The Lost Freight Minutes metric provides an indicative measure of rail freight performance on the Sydney Trains’ managed Metropolitan Rail Network. There is no attribution at this stage, meaning the metric captures delays caused by both the network manager and operators.

Transport for NSW and Sydney Trains are continuing to improve data capture and validation. Over time, it is intended to refine the measure to include high-level attribution for the purpose of reporting. This will enable a clearer picture of network manager performance, and also support the development of aggregated operator performance measure(s).

The development of mutual performance obligations is a key step in driving long term improvements in the rail freight service level offering and increasing rail’s mode share.

Definition

The sum of time lost, for any reason, for all freight trains passing through the Sydney Trains managed network during the reporting period.

Description of calculation

Lost Freight Minutes (LFMs) is the difference between the Actual and Expected Transit Times where:

  • Actual Transit Time is measured as the actual difference between the entry and exit times for a train at the borders of the Sydney Trains managed network.
  • Expected Transit Time is measured as the difference between the scheduled entry and exit times for the train according to the DWTT (or as amended by Special Train Notice).
Disclaimer

Source: Sydney Trains
Disclaimer: The information and data provided by Transport for NSW and Sydney Trains is for information purposes only. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy and reliability, the content is based on the information available to Transport for NSW and Sydney Trains at the time of publication and may be subject to change without notice.

Transport for NSW and Sydney Trains make no representation or warranty, expressed or implied as to the completeness, accuracy and adequacy of the information or data provided.

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For more information, please contact railaccess@transport.nsw.gov.au.