A lot of people catch the T3 train to commute on a daily basis. There is
a growing push urging people to use public transport as opposed to
driving. There have been lots of changes to the public transport,
especially train system, yet it seems the changes cause nothing but
disruptions to work and travel. I'm talking about regular people going
to work every day. Not only did you cut the Sefton/Regents Park line,
but now you want to make more changes going to the city. All trains
should go to the city. The city is obviously a central commonplace for
workers and travellers alike. The changes, if enforced, will cause
more problems and increased travel time where people need to change.
As someone who has been travelling by public transport since arriving
in Australia in 1989, I am very disappointed, annoyed with the public
transport system. The changes you wish to propose are completely
unjustifiable and ridiculous and will only make people more angry. If
the proposed changes go through, I have no faith in public transport.
Waste of time, waste of tax payers money and completely unnecessary.
Please reconsider the position of the public transport commuter.

Comments attached

My family and I oppose the proposed Sydney Metro line from Sydenham to
Bankstown because it results in stations west of Bankstown having no
direct train to the City.

We don't believe that there will be any time savings for most
residents on a non-Metro T3 line station when travelling to the City.
There's an increase of 3 minutes on average during the peak and 6
minutes in the off peak even with the Bankstown Metro interchange!

It's also very unfair on the area from Berala-Carrmar-Yagoona to have
further train cuts given that the Inner West Line (City to
Liverpool/Bankstown via Regents Park) was cut in 2013 forcing
additional interchanges at Lidcombe and Birrong.

The question has to be asked, why are train services continually being
cut and downgraded in our local area. There was a time when Berala to
City was a 22minute direct train through Lidcombe and Strathfield (it
was a Bankstown loop train). Sinice 2013, we don't have a direct train
from Berala to City via Strathfield and soon we will not even have the
via Bankstown/Sydenham train that we were told would be the "better"
alternative to going via Strathfield (Inner West Line).

OPPOSE THE T3 METRO and restore the Inner West Line to
Liverpool/Bankstown via Regents Park!

Please find attached submission

The Restore Inner West Line community action group expresses its
opposition to the Sydenham to Bankstown Metro. Our community supports
restoring the City to Liverpool/Bankstown via Regents Park service,
maintaining heavy rail and upgrading signalling on the T3 Bankstown
Line instead of the metro.
We believe there has been a deliberate attempt not to disclose the
impact of converting the Sydenham to Bankstown line on commuters west
of Bankstown. As the T3 Bankstown Line currently operates to Lidcombe
and Liverpool, cutting the line in half at Bankstown removes all
direct City trains for nine stations (Berala, Regents Park, Sefton,
Chester Hill, Leightonfield, Villawood, Carramar, and Yagoona).
Former rail executives John Brew, Ron Christie, Bob O'Loughlin and
Dick Day, have already warned that 19,000 commuters will have to
interchange for the first time since the Sydney Trains network was
constructed for services to Sydney CBD. Overcrowding will only worsen
on the T2 Inner West/Leppington Line and T1 Western Line as a result
of commuters interchanging at Lidcombe and Cabramatta for direct
trains to City.
For the nine stations west of Bankstown, there is an overall increase
in travel times to the City (when using the Bankstown Metro). In the
peak, journeys take an average of 2 minutes longer even with a Metro
train every 4 minutes. In the off-peak, journeys take an average of 7
minutes longer even with a Metro train every 10 minutes.
The Temporary Transport Plan is also a concern for our community given
that six stations (Berala, Regents Park, Sefton, Birrong, Yagoona)
will also have replacement bus services during the Bankstown Line
shutdowns despite not being part of the Sydenham to Bankstown project.
We believe that the T2 Inner West Line ought to be restored as a City
to Liverpool/Bankstown via Regents Park service given that the nine
stations west of Bankstown will lose all direct trains to City as a
result of the Sydney Metro City & Southwest: Sydenham to Bankstown
project.
There are no constraints on the Sydney Trains network for the T2 Inner
West Line to be restored as a City to Liverpool/Bankstown via Regents
Park service. Track capacity is not an issue between Homebush and
Lidcombe given the T2's extension west to Parramatta in 2017's
timetable, and also the Lidcombe to Cabramatta/Liverpool sections of
track remain underutilised since the Inner West Line's removal in
2013. The extension of the T2 Inner West Line to Parramatta not only
results in the inability for Liverpool/Bankstown via Regents Park
commuters to have direct trains to City, it also has removed express
T1 Western Line trains from Lidcombe, Auburn, Clyde, Granville and
Harris Park during the peak hours.
Additionally, Transport for NSW is to be condemned for its deliberate
lack of engagement with the community west of Bankstown. There have
been no information sessions at any of the nine stations that will
lose all trains to City. Consultation with the Cumberland LGA has also
been effectively non-existent despite Lidcombe, Berala and Regents
Park being on the Bankstown Line in the area. Placing an English only
advertisement in the local newspaper for a single week in one of
Australia's highest culturally diverse communities cannot suffice as
reasonable engagement.
Restore Inner West Line cannot support a project that will alienate
over 19,000 commuters from Sydney and will continue to fight to have
decent services reinstated (i.e. City to Liverpool/Bankstown via
Regents Park) as well as for upgrades to existing heavy rail
infrastructure.

The preservation of our railway heritage is welcome, but the pressure for
high-rise development triggered by a metro would be unwelcome in this
heritage -rich suburb. An increased number of services must be seen in
the context of this government incrementally reducing the number of
services to the suburb since 2013 and metro trains having
significantly less seats. The claim of better connections to "key
employment and service centres" is arguable, as current popular stops
will be lost.

The decision to abandon the inappropriate design plans for station
precincts is also welcome. It is disappointing that community input
into station precinct and open space planning is given such a low
priority, especially in the context of multiple submissions critical
of the consultation process to date (Part B, Submissions Report p
51-53 and p 58-70). "Place-making" should begin with the people who
live in and know in the places.

The Hurlstone Park Association should be one of the stakeholders
consulted in the development of the "integrated urban and place making
outcome" for Hurlstone Park Station.

The preferred project, to best benefit communities, and Sydney, should
be:

- retaining the heavy rail, without a private operator

- investing now in time-tables and signalling, and connections for
commuters beyond Bankstown

- upgrading all stations for accessibility, safety, landscaping and
active transport connections

- retaining and restoring railway heritage to enable railway-related
use including rest-rooms and toilets

- prioritising investment in new rail and rapid bus systems across
Sydney instead of converting existing lines/ building more toll-ways.

I strongly believe that to replace one almost perfectly functioning
railway system with another less functional one is
a waste of our taxes. In particular the huge reduction in seating is a
major issue for me. No one should have to stand for long periods of
time on public transport (i.e. more than 10 minutes). Our current
system should be upgraded where needed, especially with provision to
lifts at EVERY station, and then other parts of Sydney more in need of
new transport systems should be prioritised.

Please see attached