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Wednesday, 12 February, 2003

MEDIA RELEASE

A QUARTER OF A BILLION DOLLARS, FOR A SECOND RATE SYSTEM


The Rail Now Campaign today attacked the Transitways as an inadequate yet expensive response to transport problems in the west.

A spokesperson for the new Western Sydney transport group, Philip Howell, said: “While any improvement in public transport is welcome, the Government has missed a major opportunity to fix Western Sydney’s transport.”

“The Government knows the West is stuck in traffic. But all it gives us are more roads and buses. Buses can’t carry freight, so they don’t get trucks off the road. Buses don’t provide the same quality of ride as rail, and they too get stuck in the traffic. So fewer people will switch to buses than would switch to rail.”

“The Rail Now Campaign is not against buses. Nor does it believe you can run trains everywhere. But with the Transitways, buses are being asked to do the job which in other parts of Sydney is done by rail.”

“What the Government is delivering to the West is a second rate system. Eastern Sydney gets the railways. The West must make do with less.”

“Though second rate, the busways are not exactly cheap. The latest estimate shows the Liverpool - Parramatta transitway has cost $258.1m.”

“They’ve spent a quarter of a billion dollars, and all we get is a regular bus route.”

“A new bus route could have been provided in less than a year at a fraction of the cost by simply introducing bus only and bus priority lanes on existing roads, as an interim measure, while a railway was built to carry freight as well as passengers.”

“Rail is what Western Sydney needs. Rail Now.”

[In Australia: Contact Philip Howell on 02 9891 3657(W) or 0408 486 433 or 02 9633 3941(H) or howell@bigpond.net.au, or Christine Laurence on 02 4739 9693(H). N. B. A briefing paper giving details of the flawed analysis behind the Transitways is available on request. It is 3 pages, plus 5 pages of supporting information.]