The Opposition is calling on the Labor Government to declare whose side are they on, with an imminent decision due on the future of the Metro South-West project.
With the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) consistently on the record calling for the Metro line conversion to be scrapped, including in a submission to the NSW Parliament it is clear the Labor Government has a choice – back commuters or give in to their union masters.
The Metro South-West project will see the conversion of the Sydenham to Bankstown T3 line from a heavy rail line to a new Metro Line, which will:
· Triple the number of train services at stations like Hurlstone Park, Canterbury and Wiley Park,
· Over the three-hour morning peak move 51,000 people in each direction on the Bankstown Line – that's an extra 15,000 more people than now.
· Deliver significant savings in travel times to key Sydney CBD destinations including:
o Bankstown to Barangaroo achieving up to a 25 minute time savings
o Dulwich Hill to North Sydney achieving up to 31 minutes time savings.
The Coalition Government was on the record that if the upgrade of the T3 Bankstown Line to metro standards does not proceed, the existing Sydney Trains heavy rail network will not have the capacity it needs to support Greater Sydney as it continues to grow.
In 2019 when asked in the NSW Parliament regarding cancelling the conversation at Sydenham, the current A/Secretary of Transport for NSW Howard Collins OBE said
Mr COLLINS: I think any reasonable railway operator, timetable … will explain to you that that means the worst of both worlds because we still are running the Bankstown line.
Shadow Minister for Transport Natalie Ward commented on the impending decision:
"The Government has a clear choice – back the RTBU or back commuters.
"The Acting Secretary of Transport supports the conversion, commuters support the conversion, the Minns Labor Government before the election supported the conversion - the only people who don't is the RTBU and apparently now the Transport Minister."
"It's clear who benefits from scrapping this project, the RTBU, because a metro train is a union-less train."
"Either the people of Sydney will get what they were promised by Labor or the RTBU gets what it wants – the Premier and Transport Minister need to decide."
