The Parliament of NSW has launched an investigation into the downgrading of the T3 Bankstown Line

 

An inquiry into the "Sydenham - Bankstown Line conversion" has been established by the NSW Upper House

 

Submissions are being accepted until Friday 4 October 2019

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Please lodge a submission to stop the downgrading of our trains, stop over-development and Save T3 Bankstown Line

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Submission Letter:

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Dear Portfolio Committee No. 6 - Transport and Customer Service,

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I oppose the downgrading of the T3 Bankstown Line including the Metro Southwest project between Sydenham and Bankstown.

 

It is important for the Inquiry to be aware that the downgrading of the T3 Bankstown Line has severe consequences on communities from the Inner West to South West Sydney.

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Metro Southwest contains a significant number of issues such as:

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• The NSW Government's refusal to release the full business case for the project and refusal to provide justification for the wastage of billions of taxpayer dollars

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• More cost effective and less disruptive alternatives have been ignored including signalling upgrades for the Sydney Trains network that delivers a higher frequency of service (train every 3 minutes) compared to Sydney Metro (train every 4 minutes) for T3 Bankstown Line

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• A lack of empirical evidence supporting the need to downgrade the T3 Bankstown Line, especially as the NSW Government's Sydney Rail Future plan state that the "Western and North Shore Line" are the key bottlenecks (not Bankstown)

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• Most commuters being forced to stand for long distances with Sydney Metro having 70% less seats compared to the existing comfortable double-deck Sydney Trains service

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• The NSW Government's failure to heed warnings from four former rail executives about the loss of the Sydney Trains network "relief valve" and the overall reduction in reliability

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• The downgrading of the T3 Bankstown Line in being used as a gateway for privatisation of infrastructure, significant over-development and severe destruction of heritage suburbs

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• A serious lack of transparency in planning and delivery of the project with many important documents being held back from public access including the cost of "Sydenham to Bankstown"

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• The NSW Government abusing of the spirit of the GIPA Act (freedom of information) as a revenue raising mechanism to impede on access to information

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• An inadequate Temporary Transport Plan created without the promised public consultation and released "several years" late, that also fails to guarantee 100% accessible services

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• 9 stations west of Bankstown lose all trains to City Circle, forcing 19,000 commuters to interchange twice (Bankstown then Sydenham or Central), having suffered the loss of the Inner West Line (City to Liverpool [& Bankstown loop] via Regents Park

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• The lack of detailed information provided generally and the lack of consultation with all communities impacted especially west of Bankstown (e.g. Cumberland LGA)

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• The NSW Government's regular attempts to mislead the public and media into believing that the entire T3 Bankstown Line is being converted into Sydney Metro by making referrals to the project as an "upgrade of the Bankstown Line" without always specifying "between Sydenham to Bankstown" in an attempt to cover-up the impact on non-Metro stations (i.e. west of Bankstown and east of Sydenham)

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I urge the committee to review these concerns and to stop the downgrading of the T3 Bankstown Line in order to protect the surrounding communities from over-development.

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Thank you for your attention. I consent to the full publication of this submission.

Yours Sincerely,

Concerned Citizen