Passenger Rail

Greens accuse NSW of not respecting regional transport

NSW TrainLink train. Photo: RailGallery.com.au

The reduction of staff at a selection of stations across the NSW TrainLink network is a sign of the state government’s “contempt” for regional public transport, the Greens have said.

Greens NSW MP and transport spokesperson Mehreen Faruqi on Tuesday responded to the news, reported by The Daily Telegraph, that ten train stations on the TrainLink network would be unmanned, and 20 more would have their staff numbers reduced, following a review by the operator.

“To see whole stations like Broken Hill, Parkes and Macksville be completely unstaffed with no one able to assist is very disappointing,” Dr Faruqi said.

“Literally billions of dollars is being wasted in Sydney while the government cries poor about providing even basic services to the rest of the state.

“Perhaps Premier Baird lives in a world where everyone can afford to drive or fly everywhere, but the reality is that regional rail and coach services are vital to many towns and communities outside of Sydney.

“These staff cuts really do show contempt for regional public transport,” she continued.

“We should be investing in improving services and making them more attractive for people, not getting rid of staff who assist people.

“Short sighted cuts like this will only exacerbate the loss of passengers on these services.”

Faruqi also expressed disappointment that there had been no progress on replacing the “more than thirty years old” XPT fleet.

1 Comment

  1. I was just reading an American article on infrastructure decay (especially in the context of transport systems). It suggested that by and large such systems decayed under conservative governments and were often though not always reinvented under progressive governments. User comments to the article also suggested that large corporations benefited some systems but only where it was beneficial to them. So corporate developers will support schemes that are seen to be in their best interests, e.g. Sydney Metro or Newcastle truncation (or should that be castration?). There is little corporate interest past the edges of Sydney, unless it makes money e.g. coal mining, so your conservative government has little interest in rural NSW or Australia in general. As usual, you get what you vote for.