I got a letter in today's Herald about my lack of faith in the delivery of this North-West metro the NSW government is promising. The bit they chopped off was: You'd be hard pressed to find Action for Transport 2010 on any NSW government web site. Now why do you think that might be?
Thanks to the legends at the National Library of Australia, I've managed to find it. That's right, you can see Action for Transport 2010 in all its undelivered glory.
A quick run through press release confirms what I said.
- AIRPORT RAIL LINK
- Opened on time, but due to exorbitant prices, patronage has been well down. If you live anywhere in the inner West, it's much faster and cheaper to catch a cab.
- BONDI BEACH RAIL LINK
- Killed. Bondi NIMBYs didn't want bogans from the Western Suburbs competing for space with Eastern Suburbs bogans, plus the important point that it was going to be a privatised railway, with associated huge ticket increases
- PARRAMATTA RAIL LINK
- Only got halfway, Chatswood to Epping, which completely defeated the purpose of allowing passengers from the Western Suburbs to get to major trip generators like Macquarie University and the growing North Ryde technology parks.
- EPPING TO CASTLE HILL LINE
- Never built. This new promised metro effectively re-announces it, but work won't start until 2010 which according to this press release was when it would be open.
- HURSTVILLE TO STRATHFIELD RAIL LINK
- Sunk without trace.
- LIVERPOOL 'Y' LINK
- Never heard of again.
- LIVERPOOL TO PARRAMATTA TRANSITWAY
- Built. But just remember, this is a glorified bus lane.
- BLACKTOWN - WETHERILL PARK TRANSITWAY
- Still on the drawing board, despite the touted 2006 opening date.
- PARRAMATTA - BLACKTOWN TRANSITWAY
- Still on the drawing board, despite the touted 2004 opening date
- BLACKTOWN - CASTLE HILL TRANSITWAY
- Still on the drawing board, despite the touted 2009 opening date
- PARRAMATTA - ROUSE HILL (MUNGERIE PARK) TRANSITWAY
- Opened in March 2007, which is actually ahead of the schedule they set
- PARRAMATTA - STRATHFIELD TRANSITWAY
- Still on the drawing board, despite the touted 2002 opening date
- PENRITH TO ST MARYS TRANSITWAY
- Still on the drawing board, despite the touted 2008 opening date
- EASTERN DISTRIBUTOR
- Built.
- M5 EAST
- Built.
- WESTERN SYDNEY ORBITAL
- Built.
- M2 TO GORE HILL
- Built.
- METROAD 7 (CUMBERLAND HIGHWAY)
- Built.
- CROSS CITY TUNNEL
- Built, gona broke.
- PARRAMATTA ROAD
- Built, still a nightmare road.
- PRINCES HIGHWAY
- Built, still a nightmare road.
- VICTORIA ROAD
- Built, still congested.
- MILITARY ROAD
- Partially built
- TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
- Built. Didn't help congestion.
So do you see the pattern? All the road projects got built. A couple of the public transport project got built, partically, and mostly with private money.