Bus backlash: Pressure to restore HillsBus services continues
Riverstone MP Kevin Conolly said bus complaints were contained in his electorate but had expressed concerns to Transport Minister Andrew Constance.
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- Perrottet: Bring back our buses
- Rouse Hill-CBD bus axed
- MP David Elliott denies ‘lying’ to commuters
More pressure is mounting on the State Government to restore buses after treasurer Dominic Perrottet implored the Transport Minister to bring back services chopped when the Metro train line started.
Mr Perrottet, who is also the Epping MP, requested routes 620X, 621, 625, 626, 632, 633 and 642X, which mainly adversely affected Cherrybrook residents, be reinstated.
But Riverstone state Liberal MP Kevin Conolly played down the public backlash that has seen 30,000 commuters sign a charge.org petition to bring back axed or reduced services.
“The issue is relatively contained in the Riverstone electorate to a couple of routes,’’ he said.
“The 607 is the main one. I’ve made a number of representations to the minister about that route. I write to the minister lots of times, it’s not a one-day thing.
“Most of the bus changes are in other electorates.”
This was despite uproar over the 607X from Rouse Hill to the city now starting at Bella Vista — throwing residents from areas such as Kellyville Ridge journeys’ into disarray and forcing them to take three trips instead of one.
Mr Conolly declined to provide copies of letters sent to the minister but Mr Constance’s office did verify correspondence, as well as from Baulkham Hills MP David Elliott and Castle Hill MP Ray Williams.
“In the Riverstone electorate we still have bus routes unaffected and obviously many people now have access to a Metro station we didn’t have before,’’ Mr Conolly said.
A spokesman for Mr Elliott said he had made 30 representations on behalf of constituents since July 29 to Mr Constance, requesting for the timetable to be reviewed and bus services to be made available when and where commuters needed them.
“The concerns raised relate to changes not suiting travel preferences and include bus routes 607X, 617X, 620X, 621, 627, 642X, 650, 650X, 651, 652X, 653,’’ the spokesman said.
“Mr Elliott has made further representations requesting a copy of the results for this year’s review and the data used to justify the changes to the routes in the new timetable.”
Mr Conolly said the number of constituents who lodged complaints about buses was “in the teens”.
Former state Riverstone Labor candidate Annemarie Christie refuted Mr Conolly’s statement.
“I think if he thnks the problem’s contained in his electorate then he’s out of touch in with the commuters.
“There’s a lot of people from Kellyville Ridge, Stanhope Gardens, The Ponds and people from Schofields who catch the 607 and they’ve been forced on to the Metro that’s not reliable.’’
Greenway federal Labor MP Michelle Rowland said scores of residents had contacted her. She also made formal representations to Mr Constance.
“I’ve been contacted by scores of local residents frustrated a trip to the CBD that once took a single bus now requires changing three or four times”, Ms Rowland said.
“These are working people and university students who deserve better transport services.”
Ms Rowland welcomed Mr Perrottet’s intervention to restore Cherrybrook services, but maintained that the allocation of bus services must be about need and not favouritism.
“Northwest Sydney is rapidly expanding,’’ she said.
“As Schofields and Riverstone continue to grow, we need a diverse number of transport solutions — not just one.”
In parliament yesterday, NSW Opposition leader Jodi McKay asked Mr Constance if it was wrong to axe “hundreds of HillsBus services to the city before the Metro was proved to be reliable and safe”.
After Mr Constance joked if the question was from Mr Perrottet, he said he wanted to thank northwest MPs who had provided feedback on buses.
Ms McKay called on Mr Perrottet and Mr Constance to put their differences aside “because there are commuters in the northwest who are suffering as the result of the decisions on the buses.
BUS CUTS TAKE THEIR TOLL
Cutting bus services because of the Metro has had a “huge” impact on Kellyville Paula Capasso and her husband Ashley O’Mara’s house hunting and family life.
The parents moved from Queens Park in the eastern suburbs two years to raise their children Saxon and Ivy to be closer to Ms Capasso’s family.
But now the altered bus timetable means they are forgoing precious family time spent on buses.
They were planning to sell their second car and use it towards a mortgage.
But the introduction of the Metro in May and the bus changes rolled out on July 29 has inconvenienced the couple.
Ms Capasso can no longer walk to Kellyville Ridge T-way to board the 607 bus to the QVB in Sydney’s CBD.
The service used to run from Rouse Hill to the CBD but now starts at Bella Vista station, meaning Ms Capasso must leave home at 6.20am to find parking at Bella Vista station before the lot is full, usually by 7.30am.
The account manager, who returned to work from maternity leave last week, cannot rely on the “on-demand” bus services because it is more difficult to drop and collect her children from their Kellyville Ridge childcare centre.
Mr O’Mara formerly caught the bus to North Sydney but now commutes via the Metro from Kellyville station to North Sydney, a journey that has added 15 minutes to reach Crows Nest where he is a store manager.
“He’s not getting home to 7pm so it’s added half an hour on a good day,’’ Ms Capasso said.
The couple has been searching for a house in The Hills but changes to the bus timetable have thrown a spanner in the works.
“It’s going to have a huge impact — it gives us another element of what to think about,’’ Ms Capasso said.
“As the area grows over the next year or so when we’ll be ready to buy, that’s going to have a huge impact.
“We’ll probably have to go further down near the Glenwood area. We’re just going to have to broaden our reach.’’
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