Opposition leader pledges cash

As reported by the Illawarra Mercury on 21 January2015

Half of the proceeds from the long-term lease of Port Kembla port will be spent in the Illawarra under a NSW Labor government, Opposition Leader Luke Foley promised on Wednesday.

Labor has pledged that $380 million would be returned to the region if it is elected to government on March 28, compared with the $100 million allocated by the Liberal government.

Mr Foley said a dedicated Illawarra Infrastructure Investment Fund would be established to oversee the distribution of funds.

However, the government says the announcement lacks substance because the money has already been allocated to projects and no specific infrastructure commitments were made.

Mr Foley said the Illawarra had been ‘‘short-changed’’ when Port Kembla port was leased for $760 million in April 2013 and the region only received $100 million.

WTC Comment 

The $100 million committed prior to the sale was shown later to be inadequate. Wollongong needs more, with some of the proceeds of the long term port lease to be applied to improving rail access to Port Kembla.

This includes completing the Maldon Dombarton link, for which expressions of interest close soon.

Train services need improving

At a Neighbourhood Forum 3 Meeting held 20th January at Thirroul, a call was made for every second fast train in morning and evening peak hours to stop at Austinmer and/or Bulli. This would be to resolve a chronic over-parking situation at Thirroul caused by the 2013 timetable. The meeting also called for more trains, including one from Central to Wollongong at about 3 pm on weekdays. 

During weekday off peak times, there is a Newcastle to Sydney train every half hour, whilst to and from Wollongong they tend to be every half hour.

Infrastructure NSW in a 2012 report gave a target time of one hour for Wollongong Sydney trains. This would require an average speed of 83 km per hour, which has been achieved for Mandurah Perth trains for over 7 years now.  Currently, Wollongong Sydney trains average only about 55 km per hour. They need speeding up.

An open letter to Premier Mike Baird

WTC was pleased, with 520 other organizations and people, to sign the following letter that appeared in the Newcastle Herald on 19 December 2014 from citizens of Newcastle, the Hunter and Beyond.

Since then, the Supreme Court of NSW has found that the NSW Government indeed requires an Act of Parliament to remove the 2.5 km of track between Wickham and Newcastle.

Your government is about to make a very big mistake!

The decision to cut Newcastle’s intercity rail services has been made without a viable public transport plan, without due process and consultation, and without due consideration of Indigenous culture, relevant evidence, expert opinion and reasonable alternatives, and has

been unduly influenced by vested interests.

Please don’t impose this ill-conceived and expensive mistake on our city.

Please consider the needs of the many thousands of people, including families, school children, TAFE and university students, people with disabilities, older people, shoppers, workers, tourists, surfers, fishers, beach-goers, and the many other rail users, who rely on this fast, reliable and seamless service to access the Newcastle CBD and our harbour Foreshore and beaches.

Please listen to the ordinary residents and community groups whose modest donations have funded this letter, and who are proud to openly declare their support for retaining our rail services through to Newcastle Station.

Please heed the recent call by Newcastle Council to stop the plans for cutting the rail line, and to work collaboratively in an open and transparent manner with the Newcastle community to find more effective ways of using the funding from the Port proceeds to improve our public transport services and revitalise our city.

State budget could have done more for Wollongong

The NSW Budget handed down on 17 June 2014 s big on transport investment in Sydney and except for the Princes Highway, small on transport investment in Wollongong.

Sydney's expensive West Connex, which in part  is funded by the Port Kembla lease proceeds,  will do nothing for Wollongong and Port Kembla.  So also, as noted by Alan Mitchell (Abbott must  promote competition, AFR June 25), will spending part of the port lease and other privatization proceeds on "…politically attractive but low-value assets such as the NSW government's proposed North West Rail link in Sydney." 

Quite simply, the Mt Ousley road already has too many heavy trucks on it and is congested at peak hours, whilst the Wollongong-Sydney railway is congested for all day and most of the night.  If Port Kembla is to grow, Maldon Dombarton is needed. 

The NSW Government needs to take a more balanced approach between Sydney and the rest of NSW.

A bridge too far?

At a public meeting held 17 June at Thirroul held to discuss the parking problems caused by last October's   train timetable changes, Heathcote MP Lee Evans said the  NSW government was looking at ways to deal with the "pinch points" caused by the tunnels at Stanwell Park. His idea is a new Sea Cliff style bridge.

Wollongong Transport Coalition can remember in 1998 how Action for Transport 2010 promised faster trains with a new Waterfall Thirroul route with a longer tunnel. Plus their 2003 options of track straightening near Helensburgh.

With challenging rail and road problems facing Port Kembla's bid to lift throughput from 4.35 to 16 million tonnes per year,  it would be much better for the NSW Government to take a close look at Maldon Dombarton.

 Maldon Dombarton would also get coal trains out of Sydney's inner west and Illawarra lines.

http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/2364063/maldon-dombarton-line-more-effective-than-rail-bridge-expert/