Well one former minister is setting the record straight.
Andrew Constance via Twitter.
On the NIF's.....
"The NIF was approved before I left in 2021 by the experts at the National Rail Safety regulator. It’s a safe train. I agreed to the guards as Minister with Classens and the RTBU knows it. That was approved bc of the isolated stations and customer service. Now there’s a concept…guards having to do more. The union wants the guards to engage in the dumb practice of dangling their heads out the door as the train moves near a station. We have CCTV and sensors for that now it’s 2023. Nowhere else in the world does it. And before you go me over them not fitting the tracks they are deliberately wider so people with disabilities from the Hunter, Illawarra and Lithgow have an accessible toilet. It’s a disgrace the union has played the game and now denied this service to ppl with disability. The union are a disgrace."
On the Ferries.....
"I was very happy to use the Freshwater on the weekends and public holidays given it is loved by tourists. The reality is that no commuters want the slow ferry to work, hence why during peak hour the vessel is empty, some mornings with only 20 on a service. To upgrade the freshwater costs $6m plus. They spew out so much diesel they make a mockery of climate change action - a major voter issue on the Northern beaches that the local ferry activists seemingly don’t care about. Last time I looked the emerald class that I ordered directly from Incat in Tasmania have been much loved and used by commuters. Birdon is a great company too and they were commissioned by the operator Transdev and TfNSW for the next class. Ferries are loved by Sydney so why doesn’t the MUA desist in its silly campaign and if they are so dangerous as claimed, get the Minister to ground the entire fleet."
On the Metro and general public transport situation.....
I see the incoming Labor Ministers in NSW are seeking to trash what we did in transport and government. Obviously they are lacking a plan and have already announced the scrapping of two driverless train projects.
I’ll stand by Gladys and my record any day and to the unions, lefties online and the Minister on L plates who have a lot to say here it is:
1) 5 stages of a new driverless train network for Sydney including Northwest Metro (running) , City Metro, South West Metro (almost finished), Metro West (with a thirty km rail tunnel being built between the CBD and Parramatta) and Western Sydney Airport Metro (being built). Total investment greater than $70 billion.
2) 100 km of new road and rail tunnels in Sydney including Northconnex, Westconnex, M4 East and M6.
3) 4 Lightrail projects including CBD , Newcastle, Parramatta and Inner West extension.
4) Gradys introduced the Opal system which we added to in my time as Minister.
5) Delivered 48000 additional weekly transport services and created 130,000 transport jobs.
6) Invested in Sydney trains at $4.1 b. We delivered 17 new Waratah trains within a two year period at a time when rail patronage exploded from 300 million passenger trips pa to 400 million.
7) Replaced the 40 year old v set trains with the new intercity fleet. Labor claims these trains don’t fit the tracks. That’s a fib. They were built wider so we could put disability accessible toilets on them given they service the Hunter, Illawarra and Blue Mountains. Unlike Labor who purchased the waratah trains from China , these trains are made by Hyundai Rotem out of Korea. No Australian company bid for the work when they were procured in 2015. The government at that time didn’t have the money to build factories to supply them and take years to do it. The unions have stuffed the roll out of them and they are currently sitting idle on the Central Coast. We deliberately widened the tunnels to Lithgow as well so the entire network was standardised.
8. Started the electric bus evolution and franchised the remaining STA regions saving hundreds of millions of dollars. The government still owns the buses/depots and sets the timetable and fares. I presume Labor will now nationalise the bus network and take back the network from the bus companies….bet you they don’t! We also delivered the much loved B line on the Northern Beaches.
9) Legalised Uber, reformed taxis and gave the industry quarter of a billion dollars in compensation.
10) Replaced the ferry fleet with ferries built in Tasmania and Port Macquarie. Not Asia as claimed by Labor. A dozen wharves were replaced and customer satisfaction reached as high as 96%. BTW the ferries fit under the bridges near Parramatta and have since 2014 when we introduced seating on the top of the Rivercats. More silly Labor lies.
11. The lowest road tolls in 100 years and a massive reduction in hospitalisations. $21 billion invested in the road network and completed duplication of the Pacific Highway and key Princes Highway projects. $600m invested in new shared paths as well
I can go on and on. I never had a rail strike and this task was massive. I’d say to Labor be careful what you do and say with your mischief making. You have nowhere to hide now after your games. Good luck with the RTBU who think they run transport and certainly ran it into the ground since I left 18 months ago. Alex Classens is now the real transport minister and I fear for commuters what’s coming their way now Labor is stopping the building program.
I just wish the incoming Govt would just continue to further the infrastructure build of the previous Govt and not play politics. They have won Govt ffs. Keep NSW moving forward.
Andrew Constance via Twitter.
On the NIF's.....
"The NIF was approved before I left in 2021 by the experts at the National Rail Safety regulator. It’s a safe train. I agreed to the guards as Minister with Classens and the RTBU knows it. That was approved bc of the isolated stations and customer service. Now there’s a concept…guards having to do more. The union wants the guards to engage in the dumb practice of dangling their heads out the door as the train moves near a station. We have CCTV and sensors for that now it’s 2023. Nowhere else in the world does it. And before you go me over them not fitting the tracks they are deliberately wider so people with disabilities from the Hunter, Illawarra and Lithgow have an accessible toilet. It’s a disgrace the union has played the game and now denied this service to ppl with disability. The union are a disgrace."
On the Ferries.....
"I was very happy to use the Freshwater on the weekends and public holidays given it is loved by tourists. The reality is that no commuters want the slow ferry to work, hence why during peak hour the vessel is empty, some mornings with only 20 on a service. To upgrade the freshwater costs $6m plus. They spew out so much diesel they make a mockery of climate change action - a major voter issue on the Northern beaches that the local ferry activists seemingly don’t care about. Last time I looked the emerald class that I ordered directly from Incat in Tasmania have been much loved and used by commuters. Birdon is a great company too and they were commissioned by the operator Transdev and TfNSW for the next class. Ferries are loved by Sydney so why doesn’t the MUA desist in its silly campaign and if they are so dangerous as claimed, get the Minister to ground the entire fleet."
On the Metro and general public transport situation.....
I see the incoming Labor Ministers in NSW are seeking to trash what we did in transport and government. Obviously they are lacking a plan and have already announced the scrapping of two driverless train projects.
I’ll stand by Gladys and my record any day and to the unions, lefties online and the Minister on L plates who have a lot to say here it is:
1) 5 stages of a new driverless train network for Sydney including Northwest Metro (running) , City Metro, South West Metro (almost finished), Metro West (with a thirty km rail tunnel being built between the CBD and Parramatta) and Western Sydney Airport Metro (being built). Total investment greater than $70 billion.
2) 100 km of new road and rail tunnels in Sydney including Northconnex, Westconnex, M4 East and M6.
3) 4 Lightrail projects including CBD , Newcastle, Parramatta and Inner West extension.
4) Gradys introduced the Opal system which we added to in my time as Minister.
5) Delivered 48000 additional weekly transport services and created 130,000 transport jobs.
6) Invested in Sydney trains at $4.1 b. We delivered 17 new Waratah trains within a two year period at a time when rail patronage exploded from 300 million passenger trips pa to 400 million.
7) Replaced the 40 year old v set trains with the new intercity fleet. Labor claims these trains don’t fit the tracks. That’s a fib. They were built wider so we could put disability accessible toilets on them given they service the Hunter, Illawarra and Blue Mountains. Unlike Labor who purchased the waratah trains from China , these trains are made by Hyundai Rotem out of Korea. No Australian company bid for the work when they were procured in 2015. The government at that time didn’t have the money to build factories to supply them and take years to do it. The unions have stuffed the roll out of them and they are currently sitting idle on the Central Coast. We deliberately widened the tunnels to Lithgow as well so the entire network was standardised.
8. Started the electric bus evolution and franchised the remaining STA regions saving hundreds of millions of dollars. The government still owns the buses/depots and sets the timetable and fares. I presume Labor will now nationalise the bus network and take back the network from the bus companies….bet you they don’t! We also delivered the much loved B line on the Northern Beaches.
9) Legalised Uber, reformed taxis and gave the industry quarter of a billion dollars in compensation.
10) Replaced the ferry fleet with ferries built in Tasmania and Port Macquarie. Not Asia as claimed by Labor. A dozen wharves were replaced and customer satisfaction reached as high as 96%. BTW the ferries fit under the bridges near Parramatta and have since 2014 when we introduced seating on the top of the Rivercats. More silly Labor lies.
11. The lowest road tolls in 100 years and a massive reduction in hospitalisations. $21 billion invested in the road network and completed duplication of the Pacific Highway and key Princes Highway projects. $600m invested in new shared paths as well
I can go on and on. I never had a rail strike and this task was massive. I’d say to Labor be careful what you do and say with your mischief making. You have nowhere to hide now after your games. Good luck with the RTBU who think they run transport and certainly ran it into the ground since I left 18 months ago. Alex Classens is now the real transport minister and I fear for commuters what’s coming their way now Labor is stopping the building program.
I just wish the incoming Govt would just continue to further the infrastructure build of the previous Govt and not play politics. They have won Govt ffs. Keep NSW moving forward.
