If you live in Sydney and own a dog, getting across the city without a car can be oddly difficult. Dogs can travel on some buses, ferries and light rail services with permission, but ordinary pets are currently banned from NSW trains and Metro services altogether.
A new petition before the NSW Parliament wants to change that, not by turning every carriage into a free-for-all, but by trialling one clearly marked pet-friendly carriage on every NSW train and Metro service for two years.
At the time of writing, the petition has attracted more than 5,500 signatures and is open until 4 November 2026.
What Is the Petition Asking For?
The petition is asking the NSW Government to run a two-year trial of dedicated pet-friendly carriages across the train and Metro network.
The idea is fairly simple: passengers travelling with dogs would use the designated carriage, while people who would rather not travel near animals could choose one of the remaining pet-free carriages.
🐕 What the Trial Would Include
🚆 A Dedicated Carriage
One clearly identified pet-friendly carriage on every NSW train and Metro service, with the rest of the train remaining pet-free.
🦮 Dogs Under Control
Dogs would need to remain on a lead or travel in an approved carrier, with standards covering behaviour, cleanliness and owner responsibility.
📋 A Two-Year Trial
The system would be formally reviewed before any decision was made about introducing pet-friendly train travel permanently.
The proposal also specifically calls for protections for assistance animals and would allow disruptive animals or owners to be removed from services.
You can read the full petition on the NSW Parliament website.
Wait, Dogs Aren’t Already Allowed on NSW Trains?
No.
Under the current Transport for NSW rules, pets are not allowed on train stations, trains, Metro stations or Metro services.
That makes trains something of an outlier in the NSW public transport network.
🚍 Where Can Dogs Currently Travel in NSW?
- Trains: No pets permitted.
- Metro: No pets permitted.
- Buses: Pets may travel with the driver’s permission.
- Ferries: Pets may travel with crew permission.
- Light rail: Pets may travel with staff permission.
For buses, ferries and light rail, pets generally need to be restrained in a suitable box, basket or other container. Staff can also refuse travel in certain circumstances.
Accredited assistance animals are allowed across all NSW public transport services.
So if you have a Labrador, Border Collie or Greyhound that is far too large for a carrier, public transport options are currently pretty limited.
Why Are People Calling for the Rules to Change?
The petition argues that banning dogs from trains effectively forces many dog owners to use a car for trips that could otherwise be made by public transport, including visits to the vet, parks, family, cafés and tourism destinations.
That becomes more significant for people who don’t own a car at all.
The petition specifically points to apartment residents, older Australians and people on lower incomes as groups who may be particularly affected by the restriction.
It also argues that allowing dogs onto trains under controlled conditions could reduce some car dependency, parking demand and transport emissions.
Whether those broader effects would be significant is ultimately something a trial could help establish. The immediate practical change would be much simpler: dog owners would gain another way of getting around without needing a car.
Would Every Passenger Have to Travel With Dogs?
No, and that’s probably the most important part of the proposal.
Rather than allowing dogs indiscriminately throughout trains, the petition proposes a single clearly identified pet-friendly carriage.
Anyone who doesn’t want to share a carriage with dogs, whether because of allergies, fear, cultural considerations or simply personal preference, could use another carriage instead.
💡 The Basic Idea
Dog owners get access to the train network without forcing everyone else to travel with dogs.
That’s the compromise the petition is proposing: designated spaces rather than making every carriage pet-friendly.
Other Cities Already Allow Dogs on Trains
The concept isn’t particularly unusual internationally.
The petition points to cities including London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and Auckland, where dogs are already allowed on parts of the rail network under various rules and restrictions. Melbourne also allows dogs on metropolitan trains, provided they are on a lead and wearing a muzzle.
The exact rules differ considerably between cities, which is also why a NSW trial could be useful: there isn’t necessarily one model that has to be copied wholesale.
How Can You Sign the Petition?
The petition is open to NSW residents and closes on 4 November 2026.
At the time of writing, more than 5,500 people have signed.
✍️ Want to Have Your Say?
If you’re a NSW resident, you can read the full proposal and sign the official parliamentary ePetition here:
View the NSW pet-friendly train petition →
The petition closes on 4 November 2026.
The proposal isn’t asking NSW to turn every train carriage into a dog park. It’s asking for one designated pet-friendly carriage, some sensible rules, and two years to see whether the idea actually works.
For dog owners, that could mean something pretty ordinary but currently difficult: getting to the vet, visiting friends, heading to a park or travelling across the city without needing a car every time. A trial would at least give NSW the chance to test the idea properly, rather than ruling it out on paper.
