Category: Transport This Week

This week we saw both the Federal Budget and offical budget reply handed down in Canberra, with both documents acting as pre-campaign launches for the federal election that is coming up in May. Both the Coalition and Labor are promising billions of funding for new transport projects here in NSW, as well as around the country.

The incumbent Coalition government has promised that the state’s infrastructure boom will be further boosted with $7.3 billion for new rail and road projects. This includes a major investment of $3.5 billion for stage 1 of the the new North-South Metro line between St Marys and Badgerys Creek Aerotropolis via the new Western Sydney Airport. $50 million will be spent from the Urban Congestion Fund for new commuter carparks in Gosford, Panania, Hurstville and Woy Woy. A further $40 million has been set aside for detailed assessments of potential fast rail corridors in NSW, including from Sydney to Wollongong and Sydney to Parkes. $950 million has been earmarked for road upgrades. Most of the funding promised comes from forward estimates and will be delivered over four years.

In their budget reply, Labor criticised the government for only including the money for projects in forward estimates, where it claims they will not actually have to deliver on their promises. As part of the reply, Labor has committed to funding all of its major infrastructure projects in its first budget to be handed down later this year if it wins office. This will include $3 Billion for Sydney Metro West between the CBD and Westmead via the Bays Precinct, Sydney Olympic Park and Parramatta and at least $500 million for an extension of the South West rail link from Leppington to Western Sydney Airport via Bringelly. This will come alongside an investigation into funding for stage 1 of the the new North-South Metro line and promises for funding for a high speed rail planning authority.

It is a very good sign that both parties are providing funding for parts of the state governments major railway infrastructure plan. Both parties are promising funding for a rail line to the new Western Sydney Airport and the Coalition is spending big on reducing congestion. One criticism to come out of the budget on the transport front was the lack of funding for the Sydney Metro West project by the Coalition. This is a project that will likely need federal funding to get off the ground and given it has been brought forward by the state Coalition government, out seems odd that their federal counterparts would not want to support the project.

No matter which party wins the next federal election, it looks like New South Wales will be getting plenty of federal funding for its planned rail projects, leading to better transport outcomes.

Gladys Berejiklian announced her new cabinet line up today. The ministers that will be responsible for transport are;

The Honourable Andrew Constance MP – Minister for Urban Transport and Roads (Liberal – Bega)

The Honourable Paul Toole MP – Minister for Regional Transport and Roads (Nationals – Bathurst)

Continue reading “Two Transport Ministers?”

At the New South Wales state election last weekend, the Berejiklian-Barilaro Liberal Nation Coalition government was re-elected for a third term. They won with a reduced majority of 48 seats in the 93 seat parliament. At this time we do not know who will be the transport minister in this term in government, but it would be reasonable to believe that Andrew Constance will likely retain the position going forward.

As we outlined last week, there are a number of transport policies that were part of their election platform and will begin to be delivered throughout this term in government including;

• Sydney Metro City and Southwest and Sydney Metro West projects fast tracked
• Outer West North South Metro and extension to Sydney Metro West projects to connect to Western Sydney Airport from day one of airport operation
• Northern Beaches and Second Harbour Tunnel
• F6 Extension
• 17 additional Waratah Series 2 trains to allow for additional new Sydney Trains services to Western Sydney
• More Buses to deliver 14 000 extra weekly services over four years
• $50 weekly cap on Public Transport Fares
• Expansion of Transport Access Program
• New Opalpay carparks at major stations

Obviously as this government has been reelected, they will be able to deliver some of their cornerstone projects from the past two terms including that are yet to be completed;

• CBD and South East Light Rail
• Sydney Metro Northwest
• Westconnex M4 and M5 East tunnels
• Northconnex

The government has promised to follow through on all of their promises, regardless of which party won in the corresponding seat. This means that seats that voted for Labor, the Greens, the Shooters or an Independent will still get their promised upgrades. The government has tried to make this evident in an attempt to keep voters onside. In particular, expect very marginal Labor seats such as the gains of Coogee and Lismore to receive everything that they were promised in the hope of winning them back next time round. But even in safe Labor or independent seats transport projects will still go ahead, as the government doesn’t wish to be seen as pork barreling in their safest seats.

Throughout this term of government there are many different things that we can expect. There will be very little change in the way the transport operates from last term, particularly given it will be the same government in power.

Lots of ribbon cutting should be an obvious thing that will ramp up this time round. Many of the flagship projects launched in the first term of the current government are now nearing completion and we can expect major coverage of their openings. The first one will be the Sydney Metro North West on May 5, which is the first state of the major rail expansion program under Sydney Metro branding and will be the first automated rail line to open in Australia. We will also see the opening of the Randwick branch of the CBD and South East light rail in December.

We will see more and more construction. As all of the new projects promised continue with their construction or begin in the next few months and years, we will see even more transport related construction sites. This will obviously cause some disruption but will in the longer term deliver better outcomes for these areas. Expect more Sydney Metro sites to go up in the CBD and Inner West, with road tunnels going under the North Shore and Inner South.

We can also expect more privatisation of our transport operations. We already know that the Epping-Chatswood and Sydenham-Bankstown rail lines are being privatised as part of the Sydney Metro upgrades in this term. It would be unsurprising if more State Transit bus service regions are sold off this term as it was a foundational change that was pushed by the government in the last term.

The Liberals will also likely continue their union bashing agenda that occurred throughout the last term. Here at Transport NSW Blog we are proud to support the union movement and particularly the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU). The RTBU  has been attacked viciously by the Liberals constantly over the last eight years, due to their opposition to privatisation and pay freezes impletzemed by this governments. These attacks on unions need to stop, but it is foreseeable that they will continue given the ideological anti-union views of this government.

This is not the outcome we advocated for in our pre-election editorial last week, and we still don’t think this is the best outcome for transport in New South Wales. We can only hope that Constance gets moved on to another portfolio and a more competent minister takes his place. We also need to advocate for the end of the privatisation agenda and union bashing conduced by this government to ensure the best outcomes for transport in this term of government.

Tomorrow, Saturday March 23rd 2019, is the polling day for the 2019 NSW State Election. Both the Labor and Liberal parties have made many promises in the area of transport, which will deliver a variety of improvements to transport regardless of which government is voted over this weekend. This election is shaping up to be close, with polls suggesting Labor is ahead 50.5% to 49.5% despite late stumbles for the party. This would deliver a hung parliament if replicated at the election.

The incumbent Liberal National coalition government led by Gladys Berejiklian has now been in power for 8 years and to some extent is beginning to experience incumbency fatigue. They are pointing to their record on delivering transport projects for the state as one of the main reasons that they should be re-elected. Despite this, very little of their major policy commitments in the area of transport over the last 8 years have actually been delivered. Only the B-Line bus rapid project and Newcastle light rail have had ribbons cut, with signature projects such as the CBD and South East light rail and Sydney Metro Northwest not being ready for operations till the next term of government. Additionally, most of these major projects have also been marred by controversy and chaos. This chaos including a multi-billion dollar lawsuit over light rail contracts and structural failures in bridge spans for the Sydney Metro. In the regions, these inner Sydney transport projects are highly unpopular, particularly as there has been a lack of investment in country infrastructure in the most recent term of government.

Transport Minister Andrew Constance has consistently proved a divisive figure, and many in the transport industry will be hoping for him to either be voted out or moved to a different portfolio in the next term of government. He doesn’t seem to truely understand public transport and has a very ideological profit and privatisation agenda that isn’t compatible with public services.

This government hasn’t been able to pull together a cohesive narrative for transport over 8 years and probably needed to do more to win over transport conscious voters.

The Liberal National coalition are going in with a number of transport policies for this election.

• Sydney Metro City and Southwest and Sydney Metro West projects fast tracked
• Outer West North South Metro and extension to Sydney Metro West projects to connect to Western Sydney Airport from day one of airport operation
• Northern Beaches and Second Harbour Tunnel
• 17 additional Waratah Series 2 trains to allow for additional new Sydney Trains services to Western Sydney
• More Buses to deliver 14 000 extra weekly services over four years
• $50 weekly cap on Public Transport Fares
• Expansion of Transport Access Program
• New Opalpay carparks at major stations

Labor is once again going into the election with a near unknown leader in Michael Daley. Last time Labor was in government they promised a large number of public transport projects, but didn’t really deliver of many of them. The Airport Line, Epping-Chatswood Rail Link and T-Way network were their biggest deliveries, whilst the North West and South West rail links that they promised in government haven’t seen any construction until the Liberals gained government. They once again are running on a platform of cancellations, but given these projects are mostly dubious anyway, it actually is a good way to stop wasteful spending that often occurs with fatigued governments. On the other hand, they typically have shown a good understanding of the issues that have been affecting the community in the transport space, getting involved in many local grassroots groups to advocate for better public transport.

Shadow Transport Minister Jodi McKay has consistently been on top of the major transport issues over the last term in government and has proved very competent in opposition. Having spent time as both a Newcastle and a Inner West MP she has a very good understanding of the areas where come of the biggest transport clashes often occur. She also comes with a string of endorsements from a number of key figures from inside the transport industry, including a number RTBU sectaries as well as employees at government operators State Transit and Sydney Trains.

Labor has a number of transport policies going into this election

• Free public transport for all school students
• A new train timetable, with reduced travel times for Western Sydney
• Reduce station access fee to $5 at both Domestic and International stations, with $0 fee for registered airport workers
• $8 billion to fast track the construction of Sydney Metro West from the CBD to Westmead
• Continue with construction of Sydney Metro City (and Southwest if contracts can’t be broken)
• $3 billion for signalling and track improvements to the rail network
• Extension of South West Rail Link to Western Sydney Airport.
• Expanded bus services in areas where services have been cut or in “missing links”
• Refund for train services that are excessively delayed for avoidable reasons
• No more privatisation of transport services and buy back of selected privatised transport services
• Scrapping of Northern Beaches and Second Harbour Tunnel
• M4 toll cashback
• Hold a Judicial Inquiry into WestConnex and the Sydney Light Rail
• Introduce a new community consultation scheme for transport changes
• Expansion of Transport Access Program
• New Opalpay carparks at major stations

Neither party can be considered to be entirely inspiring or competent in the area of transport going into the next term. The Liberals have been the ones to actually get down to construction on many transport projects. However, the arrogance and lack of understanding on behalf of Berejiklian and Constance as well as the failure to deliver projects could prove costly. On the other hand, Labor has a history of cancelling projects and not actually delivering on their promises. Despite this, they have a much better platform for this election and go in with the benefits of a fresh slate and a popular, experienced shadow minster in McKay. 

A minority government where minor parties and independents are able to hold the major parties to account on their transport policies will be the best outcome of this election. Many of them including the Greens, Alex Greenwich and Greg Piper have good policies on transport themselves and would likely be very willing to push their own agenda. Due to the possibility that Andrew Constance might retain the transport portfolio if the Liberals are involved in said minority government, it would be somewhat marginally preferable for Labor to be the major party in this minority agreement.

Don’t forget that you MUST vote if you are registered and to look our for our post outlining the impact of the result of the election next week. Enjoy your democracy sausage!