In 1965, The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader published a feature by Tom Mead rebutting claims by NSW Transport Minister John McMahon (ALP) that all available electric carriages were in service during peak hours. As evidence, a photograph of trains stationed on sidings at East Hills during the evening peak period.
It is typical in Sydney to argue that trains are overcrowded, whether it was in the 1960s or now. The question the article raised was why couldn't additional services be provided to reduce the overcrowding. The East Hills Line was the focus, arguing that the idle trains could have made one return trip each from East Hills to the City.
Mead would be elected as a State MP for Hurstville two months later, holding onto the seat until 1976.
