Eastern suburbs bus changes: Randwick Council in bid to halt plans
A campaign to stop wide-ranging changes to bus services in Sydney’s east is gathering momentum with a rally to take place later this month.
Southern Courier
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The recently announced changes to bus services in Sydney’s east will lead more people to get behind the wheel of their car, councillors fighting the plan have said.
As Randwick Council is set for a crunch vote on the changes, councillors have come out swinging.
“Cutting 25 local bus routes to force people onto the light rail that nobody wants to catch is cynical to the extreme,” Randwick Labor councillor Dylan Parker said.
‘What should be simple trips to the heart of the CBD or across our area will become harder to make, cost more and take significantly longer as a result of these Liberal changes. People will be forced to drive.”
He added: “All local levels of government oppose these Liberal changes because they will make people’s lives worse not better. This is simply about cutting costs and preparing the bus network for privatisation.”
Fellow councillor Alexandra Luxford said: “Our community has already suffered through years of devastation from the construction of the light rail. Now that this dog of a project is built they want to take away are buses. Enough is enough.”
Randwick Council will vote on whether to try and halt the sweeping changes announced by the State Government with 25 routes set to be axed.
Council will meet next week, during its ordinary council meeting on Tuesday (May 25), and vote on a motion put forward by several councillors to try and stop wide-reaching bus changes in the area.
The changes include 25 routes being cut, 11 new routes being introduced, and a further 23 routes being modified across the eastern suburbs and southeast Sydney.
A full breakdown of the changes can be found below.
The shake-up was announced by Transport Minister Andrew Constance early this month and could come into effect as early as the end of the year.
Mr Constance stated bus services needed to be updated following the introduction of the light rail, which runs from Kingsford and Randwick to the CBD.
“The L2 and L3 (light rail) lines have changed the way customers travel to and from the CBD, by providing frequent turn-up-and-go services, so we need to update our bus schedules accordingly,” Mr Constance said.
However, the announcement has received backlash from schools and local MPs, with one stating it is simply “forcing people to use the light rail”.
Randwick Council will vote on a motion next week to “strongly oppose” the cuts, write to Mr Constance to set up a meeting to “discuss the cuts and inconvenience to our residents especially the elderly and school children”, and encourage residents to provide public feedback on the plans and attend a rally on May 30 (at 11am in High Cross Park at Randwick).
More information on the changes including where the proposed new and modified routes will run can be found here.
Planned bus changes in Sydney’s southeast:
11 new routes: 306, 310, 350, 350N, 356, 358, 373N, 375, 390X, 392N, 469
25 routes cut: 300, 301, 302, 309X, 310X, 314, 316, 317, 338, 353, 357, 372, 373, 376, 377, 391, 393, 394, 395, 400, 400N, L94, X40, X93, X99
23 routes modified: 303, 304, 307, 309, 313, 320, 339, 339X, 343, 348, 355, 362, 370, 373X, 374, 374X, 377X, 392, 397, 399, 418, 420, 420N
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