Direct city service threat
A PLEDGE from Transport NSW that new metro lines will deliver more trains and frequent services “is a grand but vague promise”, says Cumberland Mayor Steve Christou.
He was commenting on plans to integrate the Metro City and Southwest with existing rail lines, and says commuters don’t want to lose direct train services to the Sydney CBD.
It follows concerns raised in a submission by the Restore Inner West Line (Liverpool via Regents Park) community action group to an Upper House committee inquiry into the Sydenham-Bankstown Line conversion, that nine stations west of the Bankstown Line will lose direct services to the city.
Roydon Ng from the group says it means commuters, including those from Berala and Regents Park stations, will need to change trains twice, first at Bankstown and again at Sydenham or Central, before reaching the City Circle.
Cumberland Council didn’t make a submission to the inquiry, however Cr Christou has urged authorities to provide clarity to rail users.
“Asking customers to hop on several different trains isn’t my idea of an upgrade,” he said.
“If Sydney Metro is the future of our rail network and is about boosting capacity, then residents and transport authorities should know what the new timetable will look like.”
At the inquiry’s final public hearing on December 10, Sydney Trains CEO Howard Collins described the metro as “complementary” to the existing rail network.
“It is not an either or proposition,” he said.
“Despite significant investment, we have a network of Sydney Trains today, which desperately needs to be untangled.”
The committee will hand down its report by the end of March.
