Action for Public Transport (N.S.W.) Inc.

Introduction

Action for Public Transport (NSW) Inc. is a transport advocacy group which has been active in Sydney since 1974. We promote the interests of beneficiaries of public transport - passengers and the wider community alike.

Overall we approve of the principles and directions set out in the document, most specifically the transport-related section pages 25-26, and are glad that Parramatta Council has taken an ambitious attitude to future transport planning.

We offer the following to guide Council's thinking in the future.

We would of course be pleased to meet with your staff to review any of these points.

Discussion

Transport and land-use questions around Parramatta necessarily involve other LGAs and should be planned accordingly. Unfortunately, there have long been deficiencies in Sydney's strategic planning. Day and Day state¹:

". . . successive NSW governments have steadfastly refused to develop and implement a meaningful long-term strategic transport and land-use strategy. This is not simply an oversight.
. . .
"A meaningful transport and land use strategy will attract opposition from all quarters.
. . .
"No politician has an appetite for courageous policy decisions regarding the future size and configuration of the Sydney metropolitan area. Yet even they are becoming forcibly aware that the excesses of the last few years are creating a nest of problems that cannot readily be rectified and are going to cause increasing acrimony amongst many constituencies."
. . .

Some of these planning deficiencies are apparent in Parramatta LGA. We attach a map from Christie 2001² showing how a future rail network might work; the reality 23 years later is very different.

Specifics

We support the construction of Metro stations at Camellia-Rosehill and Silverwater. These are clearly vital to realise the potential of these areas for their planned uses and enable access from other parts of Parramatta and elsewhere. If these cannot be included in the line as opened, "future-proofing" as described in the report, e.g. inclusion in tunnels of boxes for station platforms, must take place.

We also support:

• construction of a railway linking Parramatta with Western Sydney Airport and the associated Aerotropolis following a more direct route, possibly via Blacktown, than the Western Sydney Airport Metro will provide. Trip times are important to public transport passengers.
• the "River Rail" link with indicative alignment Norwest-Parramatta-Bankstown-Miranda.
• without immediate judgment, serious consideration of the case for Parramatta as the Sydney station for an East Coast high-speed rail link.
• the extension of light rail underground from Carlingford to Epping with a station at Carlingford Court. We cannot support attaching an Epping spur to the existing Cumberland line unless it can be shown not to prejudice the capacity of that line.
• consideration of Council's other light rail routes - e.g. to Macquarie Park, Rouse Hill, Wetherill Park.

There should be value capture from urban development in all locations along rail corridors as a funding mechanism, whatever the mix between public and private sector construction of rail and metro lines.

Mode of transport may be less important then the existence of a dedicated corridor with planning for whichever is seen as the optimum mode aimed for. Some of the routes referred to above may be initiated by bus services; investment in these routes should be serious rather than regarding buses as a stop-gap with least possible impact to car and truck drivers. Bus stops should be designed with the greatest possible legibility (making it clear to all street users where the bus route goes) and user amenity including shelter and real-time service information.

Interchanges between public transport services should be legible and convenient. Regrettably, the vital connection between heavy rail services and L4 in the Parramatta CBD will be neither.

Conclusions

Parramatta's planning of transport and land-use is crucial to optimising transport's energy usage in the region. There are also economic and social benefits from good public transport services feeding well-planned centres.

Recommendations

We recommend that:

• Council press the NSW government to issue a long-term strategic plan for transport. In large cities, new local-trip railways should have more frequent stations than current Sydney Metro lines and plans where stations are typically 2 or 3 km apart. Further, not all suburban railways need to pass through Central; there should also be circumferential lines.
• Council work towards rail expansion as suggested above and a bus network that provides efficient services in the region.
• Council take any opportunity that may arise in the future to simplify walking between Parramatta railway station and the Macquarie St tram stop. At the very least, the path should be well-lit and covered by cameras.