 There can be no argument about it – the train service to the mountains has now been in decline for many years. At a time when there is an environmental imperative for public transport, government has let us down with slower, dirtier, more crowded trains provided at an ever increasing ticket price.
It wasn’t good enough four years ago when the Labor government was last re-elected – it is worse now. The Liberal Party has promised a lot in terms of improvements, but we are asked to trust that these are ‘core’ promises and not ‘non-core’ promises.
We remember the government made a special effort for the Olympics a few years ago and for a couple of weeks we had clean trains with clean toilets running on time. If it can be done for a few weeks why isn’t it possible to do it all the time?
There can be no excuse for it – we should be able to take pride in our public transport system.
If there were more local employment opportunities here in the mountains then so much commuting might not be a necessity. In other regional areas various State government offices have been relocated in recent years. Agriculture to Orange, Local Government to Nowra. When over 50% of our workforce has to commute off the mountains for work why should the government continue to be so reluctant to do the same here?
Not having to spend 3 or 4 hours on the train or on the M4 would have considerable social benefits in terms of more time available for family and community. I believe that clean and efficient public transport and improved local employment opportunities are both achievable objectives.
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