NSW Government Promise High Speed Rail Ahead Of March Election

BY JARROD MELMETH

The NSW Government have promised to start work on a fast rail network which could include Newcastle to Sydney services, should they be re-elected in March.

The bold plans announced on Tuesday proposed two types of trains, faster rail which would travel at speeds of up to 200km/h and High-Speed Rail which would travel at speeds of up to 250km/h.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said a faster rail network will give people greater choice about where they live and how they commute to work.

"We know a fast rail network will transform NSW unlike any other project and we will make it a reality.

"We need to make it easier for people to consider moving to regional NSW and there is no better way to do it than building a fast rail network," Ms Berejiklian said. 

The four routes identified by the state government are Northern Route including the Central Coast and Newcastle; Southern Inland Route including Goulburn and Canberra; Western Route including Lithgow, Bathurst and Orange/Parkes; and Southern Coastal Route including Wollongong and Nowra.

The NSW Government has appointed Professor Andrew McNaughton to lead an expert panel to provide advice to the Premier on how the government should best deliver a fast rail network.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald said the commute to Sydney from Newcastle could soon be just 45 minutes.

"Obviously this has to go through a technical case, and they have to go through a business case. This is a commitment we will be following through if we win government in March.

"Following the work to be done by Prof McNaughton, the government will take it to the next stage about what we can do. This could mean faster rail or high-speed rail," Mr MacDonald said.

NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said in the long term, high-speed rail would see the development of new alignments and lines, providing speeds of over 250km/h, giving the potential to cut travel times by up to 75 per cent.

Artists impression of the planned high-speed rail.

RTBU Members Vote to Proceed With Strike

BY JESSICA ROUSE AND LAUREN FREEMANTLE

UPDATE 2:15pm:

In an overwhelming decision, members of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union have voted to proceed with industrial action on Monday.

Just 5.93% of union members wanted to suspend the strike.

They'll stop work for 24 hours on January 29, leaving Hunter and Sydney commuters without any passenger train services.

While 2900 services are usually in operation across the Sydney CBD on weekdays, tomorrow they'll only run 1600 as rail workers refuse to work overtime hours.

For Hunter commuters, it means they'll have access to rail services operating on a Saturday frequency from Thursday through to Monday when the total stoppage occurs.

Meanwhile, the state government has lodged proceedings with Fair Work Australia in a bid to prevent Monday's strike, and a private Sydney law firm is suing the Union for economic loss as their employees will struggle to get to work.

A screen grab depicts tomorrow's timetable disruptions on the Newcastle to Central line. Head to Transport Info NSW for all the latest updates. 

EARLIER:

NSW rail workers are expected to decide today whether or not they'll continue with planned industrial action.

Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) members will decide by lunchtime if the offer from Sydney and NSW Trains management is good enough to cancel a ban on overtime tomorrow, but at this stage a 24 hour strike planned for next Monday is definitely going ahead.

It's understood if the industrial action does happen, the Hunter line will be working to a Saturday timetable tomorrow and possibly every day until a deal is struck, and there will be no passenger trains next Monday, January 29.

With workers not doing overtime the network could be plunged into chaos; the RTBU says the railway can't run without workers working overtime because rescources have been run down so significantly.

The offer being put forward to all 6,000 union members is a 2.75 per cent pay increase each year for three years; it also includes travel entitlements and a $1,000 cash payment if the offer is accepted.

Apart from the money side of the offer, a range of items were also put on the table to deal with working conditions, roster conditions and redeployment options in the event of a privitisation of the network.

"Obviously we've been trying to get people to listen to us and our concerns for six months, so it was great to have that breakthrough yesterday in relation to that [working conditions]," said RTBU Secretary Alex Claassens.

He added that it's never been about the money for him, it's been about the working conditions. But in the end, for the members, it does come down to money.

Workers received a text message overnight asking for a YES or NO response on the offer and planned industrial action.

Alex Claassens said it's important the workers get this opportunity to look over the offer and decide for themselves whether it is good enough, and whether it warrants putting the planned industrial action on hold.

"It's disappointing that we're in this position. The Transport minister has unfortunately let it get to this. Finally, we've got an offer that we can put to members to look at, but it's got to be noted that the Minister has been dragged kicking and screaming to this point," said Alex Claassens.

"He didn't want to be a part of it and now he has to deal with the reluctance and unfortunately we've been crying for help for a long time and nobody was listening. We've had to carry this railway on overtime.

"We all like a little bit of overtime, but eventually you get so tired that you cannot function properly and we work in a safe railway and we need to make sure we don't have tired people out there on our railway because that's when accidents happen," said Alex Claassens.

Labor demands rental assistance for Light Rail affected businesses

BY JARROD MELMETH

The Hunter Business Chamber and Newcastle Now will be holding a forum on Wednesday with the Office of the NSW Small Business Commissioner, where the commissioner will hear from small businesses affected by the construction of the light rail.

NSW Premier said on a recent visit to Newcastle that the State Government would consider rental assistance.

"If there is demonstrated loss, we are always considering rental assistance. That is what we have done for projects in other parts of the State," Ms Berejiklian said

NSW Shadow Minister for small business Jenny Aitchison said the Premier came to town with vague promises, well over a month ago.

"Here we are with businesses closing down, and those left surviving on minimal trade. It's time for the Premier to make good on her promise.

"The Government has shown no consideration to businesses in the areas impacted by the light rail. It's all very good for the premier to say the light rail will bring customers, but that doesn't put food on the table for struggling small business owners and their employees. It doesn't guarantee they'll still be in business when the light rail finally arrives," Ms Aitchison said.

Since construction began the light rail has come under fire from the State opposition as being a "budget blowout" while Hunter Street retailers continue to feel the pinch.

Ms Aitchison said one of the businesses she had been in contact with has seen a downturn of about 70 percent in one part of their business since light rail construction began.

Retailers are thanking local community members for their support but say their businesses draw traditionally from out of town patrons, and they are just not coming into the CBD anymore.

Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said it's time for the Premier to step up and support Newcastle businesses doing it tough.

Hunter Street light rail construction. Photo: Jarrod Melmeth.

Another Ferry Stop for Newcastle?

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Another ferry stop could be on the cards for Newcastle.

The Throsby Business Chamber surveyed their members to find out where they would like to see another ferry stop and found 54 per cent would like to see the ferry stop at Wickham.

Other respondents saw Carrington as another possible place for a stop which the chamber believes wouldn't be too much of a stretch because the ferries already moor there.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald said there have been a few ideas put forward and all of them are quite good.

"You'd have a ferry stop near Carrington or a little bit further up at Wickham and then join up with the Wickham/Newcastle Interchange and then that would go up to Queens Wharf. So there are a few ideas and a few options being looked at and considered."

The idea of another ferry stop isn't something that hasn't been thought of before, Scot said there is the consideration in both the 2056 Transport Plan and also in the Draft Greater Newcastle Metro Plan.

"It's always good to hear from the local community including the business community and it builds the case so this will be taken on board, this will be listened to and I'm grateful to the Throsby Business Chamber for going to this effort and putting the survey together," said Scot.

The business chamber says the demand for the ferry service has been proven, particularly during the Supercars Newcastle 500 two weeks ago and the use of the ferry service just between Queens Wharf and Stockton every day.

The survey results have been sent off to Transport Minister Andrew Constance.

Queens Wharf Image Wikipedia

Sneak peek of Revamped Newcastle Transport Network

BY JARROD MELMETH

An improved Newcastle Transport network being introduced in January promises to provide customers with better links to the John Hunter and Mater hospitals as well as extended hours for core routes.

Currently, the majority of week-night bus services operate until 10:30pm but under the new network, core route buses will operate until midnight on weeknights and will run every hour on Friday and Saturday nights until 3am.

Newcastle's private transport operator, Keolis Downer has also promised to link the John Hunter Hospital and Newcastle CBD with services every 15 minutes from 7am to 7pm and every 30 minutes on Weekends, which Keolis Downer Hunter CEO Campbell Mason says will have a new number which, will be announced along with the Transport Network on Thursday.

Mr Mason said the changes come off the back of intense community consultation and analysis of opal data.

"We have been analysing - to start with - opal data but, of course, the opal data can only tell us about who is using the system and when they are using the system. We are looking to get feedback and have got feedback from others who are not currently using the public transport network. We have been running the voice of Newcastle program and getting a lot of comments from the social pinpoint website and also we have been running citizens panels to get feedback," Mr Mason said.

The Mater Hospital will also receive an upgrade in services with timetabled connections between Broadmeadow and Waratah stations and the hospital.

Picture: Jarrod Melmeth

Newcastle 500 Transport Strategy Should make Travel a Breeze

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The transport plan for how thousands of people will be getting around during the Supercars Newcastle 500 event has finally been released.

There will be an integrated ticketing option with 300 additional buses and 90 more train services scheduled for the three-day event.

Park and ride services will be located not only from McDonald Jones Stadium to the Honeysuckle precinct, but also added across Newcastle Harbour at Stockton for the ferry service.

There will be two ferries running which can carry 200 passengers and crew each. The ferries will be running every 5 to 10 minutes.

Newcastle 500 Event Manager Kurt Sakzewski says the plan will easily enable 150,000 commuters to get in and out.

"We want to make sure all of those people can get in and out of the event in an easy manner and that's why we've introduced this integrated ticketing option so people will be able to come in whether it's via bus, ferry, train, in coming from Sydney and the outer regions,"

Event Manager Kurt Sakzewski.

"They'll be coming into Newcastle here, they'll be delivered to the gate and after the even, they'll take the same routes home as well," said Kurt Sakzewski.

The ticket you've purchased to get into the event itself will give you free public transport whatever it may be.

"The great thing about the integrated ticket is it doesn't matter what version of public transport that you want to take, you can get on a bus, get on a ferry, get on a train, you just show your event ticket and it just gives you access all of the way through for no extra cost," said Kurt Sakzewski.

Revitalising Newcastle Program Director Michael Cassel says they've tried to prepare for anything.

"We will have a command centre running throughout the three days to the event. That command centre will include everyone from police, event organisers, Keolis Downer, and people from NSW Transport so we'll be able to monitor what's going on and we'll be able to make changes as we move throughout the day and the night."

Event organisers have planned for people coming into the city from every possible way and they say this year will be a very good test to see how well they've planned.

"We can assess how it actually works after year one but we also keep an eye on where our ticket sales are from as well so gives us a little heads up but really it will be after the event itself that we will know the exact details and obviously in year two we will apply that to the plan," said Kurt Sakzewski.

Kurt admits it will be interesting to see how well people will be moved in and out of city on the Friday and Saturday nights but they've been working with police and every other transport agency to ensure everyone gets out in a timely manner.

The biggest piece of advice the organisers have is to catch public transport. Don't drive.

"We really want to encourage people to take public transport. All major events government use public transport to ferry people in and out and that would be the most efficient and least disruptive way to get in and out of the event," said Michael Cassel.

Keolis Downer Confident it Will Bring Newcastle World-Class Transport

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Newcastle's private transport operator Keolis Downer has responded to claims they are still underpaying drivers and cancelling services.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) says there are still problems occurring two months after dozens of bus drivers were underpaid hundreds of dollars.

Keolis Downer admits there were problems with the payroll system, but the incidence of workers being underpaid are much less than they were three months ago when they first took over Newcastle's transport system.

"The pay roll that was run Wednesday last week for a total workforce of around 350 people we had only nine errors within that payroll run, some of those were overpayments, some of those were underpayments. Where we had underpayments the corrective payment has been made within days of the error being identified,"

"So this issue has certainly reduced down to a point where we have only a handful of errors on the most recent payroll run," said Keolis Downer Chief Executive Campbell Mason.

Several of the Hunter's Labor MPs met with the RTBU and workers yesterday, calling for action from Transport Minister Andrew Constance on the operator. The call for action comes after he promised Newcastle and the Hunter a world-class transport system, but MPs are all in agreeance that Keolis Downer is failing to provide it.

Another problem is services being cancelled, often without notice.

"The worst month that we had for cancelled services was August when the flu spike was at its worst and certainly the cancellations have stabilised since then. So its nothing like the problem that it was in August, and we have also recruited additional drivers into our workforce so that we are more resilient and more able to deal with those sorts of shocks should they happen again," said Campbell Mason.

Despite all of the criticism, Campbell Mason is confident Keolis Downer will be a world-class transport operator in Newcastle and bring the people what they want.

"I've used teething problems to describe the system issues that we've been addressing, there are some broader based issues within the business where we need to driver longer-term improvement and change so I don't see us putting a time frame on turning the business around as such. Some of the things can be readily fixed, other things will take time to fix."

On Track for a Faster Train from Newcastle to Sydney

BY JESSICA ROUSE

It might only be a trial, but Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald is confident a new fast train from Newcastle to Sydney could be permanent.

Starting in November, the trial will see Novocastrians slash 26 minutes off the train trip from Newcastle to Sydney by taking out stops at Cardiff, Fassifern and Eastwood.

Once the new Wickham Transport Interchange is finished the new service will leave at 5:03am, replacing the 4:40am service.

It'll stop at Hamilton, Broadmeadow, Morisset, Wyong, Tuggerah, Gosford, Woy Woy, Hornsby, Epping and Strathfield both ways. 

Scot MacDonald says they've been working on this one for a while and is really pleased the Transport Minister has agreed to the trial.

"The approach that I think has worked here is saying to the Minster, look we don't have to lock anything in, we don't have to have a permanent change at this stage, but at least lets have a trial and see how it goes and as I say I think they'll be a good demand for this." 

Coming back home from Sydney will be quicker as well, 11 minutes will be trimmed off the trip from Central to Newcastle on the 3:45pm train.

The government says the trial was part of the $1.5 billion More trains More Services Program to improve the network, and even better everyone likes a sleep in, no matter how small.

"I think it's terrific for people to not have to get up quite so early, it's still an early start obviously, but I think its what people in Newcastle have been calling out for," said Scot MacDonald.