Labor has warned that a secret proposal to dissolve up to 16 bus routes in Sydney’s east is evidence the government is attempting to streamline the service ahead of privatisation.

A leaked draft Transport for NSW document obtained by the Herald revealed that more than a dozen buses servicing Coogee, Maroubra and Sydney’s south could be cut to make way for the new light rail.

Up to 16 bus routes face being cut from Sydney's east to make way for the new light rail, according to leaked NSW government documents.

While Transport for NSW executives insisted the report - which was marked “sensitive” - was a draft and final decisions were months away, the opposition seized on the leak as proof the government was working to cut down the service ahead of its slated franchising.

Labor member for Coogee Marjorie O’Neill said the government had not been “clean or transparent” over its plans for the eastern suburbs bus network.