The boss of Sydney Trains will consider compensating people who lost thousands of dollars because of network delays on New Year's Eve.
Thunderstorms knocked out vital infrastructure on Monday evening, causing extensive delays and cancellations across the system.
At 9.30pm, it took passengers more than an hour to ride the two kilometres from Town Hall to Redfern and even longer after the midnight fireworks.
Tens of thousands of people who had converged on the harbour city for New Year's celebrations crowded into stations and spilled onto streets waiting for trains arriving late and sometimes not at all.
Sydney Trains chief executive Howard Collins apologised for the chaos and vowed to work harder to ensure there is no repeat.
While NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian immediately ruled out refunding commuters, Mr Collins on Wednesday said he was open to looking at individual cases.
"If people have had a horrendous journey, they've lost thousands of dollars, and they've had a hard time, we will - and I certainly will - consider whether we will as a hardship case deal with that matter," he told 2GB.
"Even if it was the force of nature and the lightning strikes ... we would consider that. That is fair."
Sydney Trains boss Howard Collins says compensation will be considered after network failures. Source: AAP
He told the Sydney Morning Herald he felt "embarrassed" and ended up taking most of his guests back to their hotel at 10.30pm to watch the fireworks on TV.
Ms Berejiklian said the "freak" thunderstorm and record crowds put massive pressure on the system, while Labor Leader Michael Daley accused the government of cutting maintenance to the point the system was failing.
Mr Collins denied changes to their maintenance program were to blame, but conceded the complex network had "vulnerabilities".
"It doesn't happen overnight but we have a plan and certainly government backing for investment to make this network more reliable."
Sydney Trains said all services were back running on time and as planned by Wednesday morning.
"We appreciate the patience and understanding from our customers during new year's eve & new year's day," it tweeted.
