The group fighting to have Newcastle’s heavy rail line restored has slammed the state government’s concept art depicting the proposed Wickham Transport Interchange.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Premier Mike Baird and Transport Minister Andrew Constance unveiled the new artwork earlier this week, but did not release detailed plans on how the transport hub, near the old Wickham train station, would work.
Save Our Rail, the group that has led the opposition to the government’s plan to replace trains with a light rail network into the CBD, has lashed out at the government’s latest concept for the interchange.
“No matter how much lipstick you apply to a pig, it is still a pig,” the group’s president Joan Dawson said in a statement.
“That is a truism that can apply to this transport plan which, if implemented, will destroy transport and the CBD of Newcastle.”
The state government closed the heavy rail line from Hamilton last December and buses have replaced trains into the city since then.
The transport interchange is not expected to be complete until 2017 and an opening date for a light rail network has not yet been confirmed.
The NSW Court of Appeal is deciding whether the government needs to get an Act of Parliament before it removes the heavy rail infrastructure.
While the government and supporters of the transport plan say the interchange and light rail network will be a key element of Newcastle’s
revitalisation, many commuters from Maitland and the greater Hunter say the change will make getting to the city more time consuming and difficult.
Mr Constance told the Mercury earlier this week that the government hoped for a favourable outcome in the Court of Appeal, but did not plan to take a backward step with its transport plan.
Ms Dawson said it was impossible to call any method of transport seamless if it involved a change between two different modes – no matter how smooth the connection.
“Any seamstress will tell you that a seam is how you join two pieces of cloth,” she said. “The only way it can be seamless is if there is only one continuous piece of material.
“Newcastle had seamless transport with one mode direct from Sydney and one mode from Hunter towns connecting to Newcastle’s beaches and amenities.
She said the location of the proposed interchange was an example of poor planning.
“Running light rail across Stewart Avenue, if they gain the promised ten minute frequency by installing a second line, will hold up traffic much more often and create more delay than the original boom gate operations.”
