Canley Vale train station upgrade: Work set to start in late 2020
Plans for long-awaited lifts at a southwest Sydney train station are finally progressing after the project received the green light, with works set to begin later this year. SEE THE DETAILS.
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Plans for two new lifts at Canley Vale Station have been approved, paving the way for construction to begin later this year.
It comes after a long-running campaign by residents for lift access at the station, which is close to two nursing homes, Canley Vale town centre and two Buddhist temples.
The State Government confirmed investigative work has been completed and detailed design planning will be undertaken in the coming months.
Major construction is due to begin later this year, with an expected completion date of 2022.
Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Roads Eleni Petinos said the upgrade would make travel easier for less mobile customers, including people with a disability, limited mobility, parents and carers with prams and travellers with luggage.
The upgrade will include two new lifts from the existing footbridge to the station platforms, accessible parking spaces and kiss and ride on First Ave, a family accessible toilet and two ambulant toilets, improvements to lighting and CCTV, and an upgraded station entrance on Railway Pde.
Canley Vale Chamber of Commerce president Tony Fornasier said he would believe lifts were being installed at the station only when he saw it with his own eyes.
The 86-year-old has been campaigning for lift access for the past 40 years, first approaching Labor MP John Newman, who was shot dead outside his home in Australia’s only political assasination in 1994, when he represented the seat of Cabramatta.
“I’ve been working on this, I’ve been pushing it for the last 40 years, I don’t believe it,” he said.
“All other stations in northern parts of Sydney, they’ve all got the lifts but on our side we haven’t.
“I feel sorry for pregnant women or women with kids, or mums with kids — they’ve got the strollers. And the elderly people.”
And on the day the lifts are finally installed? “I will say ‘hallelujah’,” Mr Fornasier said.
“I think that the people of Canley Vale should all get together and have a dance in Canley Vale.”