News

Independent brings new ideas to public transport

25 February 2006

Urgent and immediate action is needed to address the real issues affecting public transport users in the South Eastern Corridor – trains, buses and schedules – according to Andrew Owens, Independent candidate for Victoria Park during his public transport launch at Carlisle Train Station.

"As a long-term public transport user and active public transport lobbyist,  I am perpetually frustrated like many others by the inability to get around in Victoria Park, Bentley and the surrounding area," said Mr Owens.

"Abandoned, empty stations attract crime.  People can't be expected to use trains when they have to walk for 20 minutes on poorly-lit streets in all weathers, or have to pay a taxi fare to get to where they live, work or play.  Only two stations in the electorate – Oats Street and Cannington – have acceptable service standards and a bus connection, although even those connections are often missed because of excessively late trains. Much of this is due to poor planning and policy chaos in Government.

"As part of my Moving Victoria Park Forward platform, I will push for the Government to develop and adopt a phased-in plan for the Victoria Park area including:

• Bus connections to all stations covering a reasonable surrounding area.
• Adequate night bus services to all populated parts of the electorate.
• Restoration of full train services to all stations in the electorate.
• On-time train services on the Thornlie and Armadale lines.

"In just the last six months, the Labor government, with the former Member for Victoria Park as Premier, demoted five stations in the Victoria Park electorate – Burswood, Victoria Park, Carlisle, Welshpool and Queens Park – to effective second-class status. They are now only served by the Thornlie line. The Armadale trains no longer stop at them, even at night – on every other line, all trains stop at all stations after hours. In addition, the Lathlain Station was closed in 2003, and the promised Victoria Park Station has not been built at all after three years of delays despite numerous promises.

"In the same period of time, service standards on the Armadale/Thornlie line have slipped to levels that no other line has to either deal with or tolerate – according to my own research, in a six-week period in November and December, not one train between 8am and 9am left within the five-minute window which Transperth regards as being "on time".  This compares poorly against 97% on-time on the Clarkson line over the same period.

"Out of 17 electorates linked to Perth's rail network, just one – Victoria Park – has been given a raw deal.  Clearly, the ALP believes it can take Victoria Park voters for granted. In fact, they have lauded their changes as achievements!

"These concerns and many others, such as the lack of bus connections to train stations and the inadequacy of night bus services in the electorate, unlike their fortunate, marginal-seat northern suburbs counterparts, will not be addressed by voting for a major party.

"Neither the Labor Government nor Liberal opposition have demonstrated the foresight or commitment necessary to fix these critical problems and make the public transport system usable in Victoria Park.  Instead, all we hear from the major party candidates are simplistic slogans about fighting crime at our abandoned train stations, while ignoring what is needed – that is, to fix the inadequate bus and train services and bring people back into the stations.

"An Independent who is dedicated to serving the people of Victoria Park will ask the critical questions in Parliament and negotiate with the Ministers, departmental staff and the people of Victoria Park to obtain the best outcome for the residents of this electorate.

"Perth has a world-class public transport system backed by billions of dollars in Government funding. There's no reason why Victoria Park, Carlisle, Bentley and Cannington cannot be part of it, and electing a capable, experienced local Independent with the determination to deal with this issue and get results would be a significant first step."

Mr Owens invited concerned voters to view the campaign website at http://www.andrewowens.com.au for more information.