NSW Liberal Party Deputy Leader Natalie Ward has launched a late appeal to the voters in the Kiama electorate to send a message to the government at the ballot box over the inadequate South Coast rail line.

Ward - who is also the Shadow Minister for Transport and Roads, and the Illawarra and South Coast - said nearly 40 per cent of services have been late in the region in 2025.

The rail line between Kiama and Bomaderry has been an ongoing cause of angst for local commuters and there have been calls for several years for a passing loop to be installed at Toolijooa.

Former Kiama MP Gareth Ward had promised to build a $125 million four-kilometre stretch at Toolijooa in 2019 and Labor Transport Minister Jenny Aitchison said the government was in the process of investigating the situation through its $10 million Illawarra Rail Resilience Plan which is looking at several ways to improve the network.

Aitchison said the plan would be presented to the government by the end of this year with the community to be consulted in early 2026.

Ward said the Liberals would commit to installing the loop if they win government in early 2027.

“We will continue to invest in upgrades to rail. I’m disappointed that rail reliability is so bad in the area.

“Labor talks a good game and puts out press releases but doesn’t actually deliver.

“As Transport Shadow Minister, I’m very aware of how much that line needs those upgrades and we would commit to it. There’s a lot that we have delivered. You can’t realistically do everything.

“With the South Coast line, we know that ongoing service reliability is not good enough for regional commuters.

“Given around 40% of services have been late in 2025, that’s not good enough for a service where people are relying on that to get to jobs, to the city, to schools and appointments.

“It’s not just an inconvenience, it’s an absolute impediment and this government needs to do better and we certainly would be looking at that in 2027.”

Aitchison countered by saying Ward’s comments were off the mark.

“This is just situation normal for the Liberal Party. They started projects, talked about projects and never actually delivered them and then are critical that we haven’t managed to fix everything in our time in government when they had 12 years to do it,” she said.

“We’ve been implementing a lot of change on the network. We have the Illawarra Rail Resilience Plan and that is about looking at ways we can improve that network.

“Under the formal government there wasn’t a plan to look strategically at the network in Sydney, outer Sydney or the rural/regional area of the state.”

When asked about the issue of trains running late, Aitchison said a combination of a lack of rolling stock, track conditions and timetabling problems that they have inherited from the previous government were the main factors.

“You can’t undo 12 years of neglect and lack of maintenance and delivery in a short time. I think we’re doing a good job in getting the improvements there and we’ve got a plan for the future.”

Ward claimed the transport issue was a prime example of why the Kiama electorate should choose Liberal candidate Serena Copley over Labor frontrunner Katelin McInerney at Saturday’s by-election.

“It’s very easy to do a press release, it’s very easy to talk about things. It’s actually in the delivery that people should judge you over time. The old saying that action speaks louder than words,” Ward said.

“The proof is in the pudding. You can’t do that overnight five weeks before a by-election. Judge us on our record but what I’m not seeing from Labor is a commitment over the years they’ve been in. I’ve seen a lot of light-on announcements, lots of sprinklings of a little bit but they are light on detail on delivery dates and they don’t fully fund the upgrades that have been promised.

“What you have is a true local who’s been there for 30 years in the area who’s a vocational training expert, a former Councillor who understands how to deliver and what the community wants intimately rather than a union hack who’s been delivered a job from head office.”