In 1980, the 5.06pm diesel train from Central to Thirroul took 75 minutes.
Today the 5.12pm electric train on the same route takes almost 10 minutes longer - 84 minutes if it is on time.
For the privilege, commuters are being asked to fork out up to 25 per cent more in fares, over the next four years.
Transport analyst Philip Laird maintains fares shouldn't increase beyond the Consumer Price Index unless four conditions are met.
"First we need to get the trains off valium. To speed them up a bit," Dr Laird said. And he wants timetables to go back at least to pre-May 2006 running times.
Dr Laird said his other two conditions - that new OSCAR carriages replace Tangara carriages on the South Coast and that delays due to signal failure between Waterfall and Thirroul are reduced - are being addressed.
Dr Laird, based at the University of Wollongong, submitted his research to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal in July, anticipating the latest recommendation for a fare rise.
Dr Laird said the new distance-based approach, where those who travel further will be hit for higher fare increases, is unfair on South Coast line passengers suffering with a slow and infrequent service.
"People living in the North Shore (of Sydney) are getting a really good deal and should be paying a bit more," he said.
Under the pricing tribunal's proposal which would take effect in January, those using a weekly ticket from Kiama or Wollongong to Sydney could pay $9 more while those travelling from Thirroul to Sydney would pay $8 more. Weekly tickets between Kiama and Wollongong would rise by $7.
When the electrified line between Sydney and Wollongong opened in 1986, Premier Neville Wran said it marked a new era of "quick, comfortable train travel".
Dr Laird's submission noted the Government's failure to deliver on promises such as the high speed rail link between Wollongong and Sydney which was supposed to shave 15 minutes off the trip by 2010. "Instead journey times have padded out over the years," Dr Laird said.
He also called for a study into track capacity on the existing line to find out if the line could handle more passenger and freight services. "Such a study should examine potential improvements to Waterfall-Thirroul track alignment and triplication of Hurstville Mortdale along with the benefits and costs of completion of the Maldon to Port Kembla railway," he said.
NSW should be aiming for the standard Western Australia has reached with its new line to Mandurah - about the same distance from Perth as Thirroul is from Sydney, Dr Laird said.
A trip on that line takes 48 minutes - is at least 20 minutes faster than driving the same trip - and there are six trains an hour on the line.
At Thirroul, there are an average of two trains an hour, taking about 80 minutes to cover the 70km to Sydney. "We have a transport disadvantage in the region," Dr Laird said.
Action for Public Transport secretary Allan Miles urged commuters to fight the fare increases by writing a submission to the tribunal which will be considering the proposal until November 5.
Mr Miles said regular train users could buy a yearly ticket to beat the price rise. "Even without the fare rise a yearly ticket costs about 41 times the price of a weekly and you only have to queue up once," he said. "If you order a yearly ticket now you get a full year's travel at today's prices."
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