'Next NYE will be anywhere but here': How the harbour city's disastrous New Year's Eve train delays cost a Sydney man and six of his foreign friends more than $5,000
- Sydney's failing public transport system was again pushed to its limits on NYE
- Mal Johnston was hosting six friends visiting from Taiwan and China last night
- They all planned their holiday around travelling to Sydney to see the fireworks
- But the train network crashed and turned their 40 minute trip into 93 minutes
- In turn, they missed their $725 per head cruise departing from harbour at 7pm
Sydney's failing public transport system was again pushed to its absolute limits on New Years Eve, with extensive delays costing an international family $5,000.
Mal Johnston, a 45-year-old Dee Why resident, was hosting six friends visiting Sydney from Taiwan and China - all of which planned their holiday around the New Years Eve festivities on Sydney's harbour.
Each of them paid $725 for an all-inclusive six hour harbour cruise departing at 7pm.
Despite leaving Chatswood - typically a 40-minute trip - 90 minutes earlier, delays and a complete network shut down left the group stranded for more than an hour-and-a-half.
Mal Johnston, a 45-year-old Dee Why resident, was hosting six friends visiting Sydney from Taiwan and China - all of which planned their holiday around the New Years Eve festivities on Sydney's harbour
Sydney's failing public transport system was again pushed to its absolute limits on New Years Eve, with extensive delays costing an international family $5,000
Mr Johnson was told a signal failure was delaying the train, and after 15 minutes of waiting, an announcement said the train would depart shortly.
They were then forced to wait an additional 45 minutes.
By the time the group realised they would be better off in a taxi, the roads in and out of the city had been blocked for the festivities.
Share this article
He told the Sydney Morning Herald they attempted to explain their situation to Vagabond Cruises, who would only delay leaving the port by 10 minutes.
'The lady at the front desk basically said to me from that point well you should have left earlier; we left 90 minutes [earlier] ... and we still didn't make it,' he said.
Mr Johnston said he was then told the tickets were non-refundable.
The group were unable to attend their $5000 cruise due to delays at Central station holding up their train for over an hour
The group made a number of attempts to get onto the ship after it had departed, including trying to order a water taxi and contacting friends to see if they could get across, all to no avail.
Instead, they were back at their Chatswood hotel by 10:30pm.
'Two of my friends stayed to kick on and faced massive delays again coming back home. The other four watched the midnight fireworks in their room and recorded the TV on their phones; it was really quite sad,' Mr Johnston said.
Sydney Trains claim a 'freak lightning storm' brought about the delays, and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed no refunds would be handed out.
But Mr Johnston said the delays he and his friends faced occurred before the thunderstorm even began.
'We all felt so deflated last night and are still feeling it this morning, my friends could not believe a major city like Sydney could have such terrible public transport. It was an absolute disaster.'
'Next time NYE anywhere but Sydney.'
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Vagabond Cruises for comment.
A couple of Mr Johnston's friends attempted to make the most out of the situation by walking around the harbour, but struggled to get home after midnight
