Cessnock MP Clayton Barr says Maitland and Cessnock residents will be worse-off under the new bus network that will replace trains in Newcastle CBD from Boxing Day.
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He said the state government’s claim that buses would take 25 minutes to get from Newcastle to Hamilton during peak travel times to allow commuters to board a train out of the city was rubbish.
Transport Minister and Minister for the Hunter Gladys Berejiklian said last week that buses would leave Newcastle every 10 minutes during peak travel times and would take less than 25 minutes to reach Hamilton Station.
The bus system is likely to be in place for about two years, until the proposed light rail network opens.
But Mr Barr said he worked in Newcastle CBD for six years and, in his experience, it could take up to 10 minutes to travel one kilometre during the daily afternoon peak hour.
The added time for stops to let passengers on and off a bus, he said, would mean the government’s 25-minute target was not realistic.
“The traffic is diabolical,” Mr Barr said.
“If anyone can get from the heart of the CBD to Hamilton in 25 minutes during peak time call me and tell me what road you are using, because I want to know the secret.”
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader John Robertson has accused the government of censoring train performance data on the Hunter-Newcastle line.
He said the weekly breakdown of rail performance ratings has been unavailable on the CityRail website for a number of months.
When the Mercury checked late last week, there was no data missing for any other service.
“It’s farcical and bizarre that Hunter line commuters are the only ones on the network who can’t visit the CityRail website and check how their train line is performing,” Mr Robertson said.
A NSW Trainlink spokesman said some recent data had been omitted for the Hunter-Newcastle line but had been made available after the Mercury’s inquiry.
The spokesman did not say why the data was unavailable.
