{"id":30153,"date":"2024-02-13T10:36:55","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T00:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infrastructuremagazine.com.au\/?p=51137"},"modified":"2024-02-13T10:36:55","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T00:36:55","slug":"accessibility-upgrades-for-nsw-train-stations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=30153","title":{"rendered":"Accessibility upgrades for NSW train stations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The New South Wales Government has announced upgrades for seven new rail stations as part of its $800 million commitment to accelerating accessibility improvements for stations across the state.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thousands of commuters are set to benefit from the rollout of the program designed to make public transport safer and more accessible, particularly for vulnerable members of the community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 136-year-old Macquarie Fields Station is one of seven stations in line for an upgrade. The station has never been fully accessible, with the city-bound Platform 1 only accessible via stairs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More than 10,000 passengers travel through the station every week and the community is home to 2,000 people aged over 60, many of whom have been campaigning for lifts for over eight years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Upgrades to Macquarie Fields Station will include a new footbridge with lifts, stairs, a covered walkway to the platforms, a new family accessible toilet, improved lighting and CCTV. There will be six accessible parking spaces, two new accessible drop-off spaces and a relocated bus stop on Railway Parade. Access to the station will be improved with a new pedestrian crossing and signage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having completed early stakeholder engagement with vulnerable members of the community, Transport for NSW will undertake targeted stakeholder engagement over the coming months. The community will be invited to have their say on the draft concept design toward the end of 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Major construction is expected to begin in late 2024, following the development of planning approval documentation, with work expected to take approximately 18 months to complete.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other stations include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moss Vale<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lewisham<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Griffith<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bardwell Park<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chester Hill<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Queanbeyan<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The $800.7 million program is funded by a combination of the old Transport Accessibility Program, the Commuter Carpark Program, and the additional $300 million the government committed at the 2023 election.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New South Wales Premier, Chris Minns, said that in 2024, it\u2019s not acceptable that a person in a wheelchair or a parent with a pram can\u2019t access a station.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe committed to upgrading train stations to make them more accessible, safe and secure for the people who need them the most, and that is what we are delivering,\u201d Mr Minns said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New South Wales Minister for Transport, Jo Haylen, said that the Macquarie Fields Station dates back to 1888 and has long been in need of a facelift.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI\u2019m thrilled that the New South Wales Government is able to deliver this and give the local community the transport interchange they deserve,\u201d Ms Haylen said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe know the community has been advocating for these improvements for a long time and they will soon have the opportunity to have their say on this much-needed project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cTransport hubs should be safe and welcoming places for everyone. That\u2019s why the New South Wales Government is committing $300 million to the new Safe Accessible Transport Program, to make sure our public transport is as safe and inclusive as possible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Minister for Disability Inclusion, Kate Washington, said that a big focus for the State Government is investing in disability access improvements where they\u2019re urgently needed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe Macquarie Fields community should not have been left with such an inaccessible station for so long,\u201d Ms Washington said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe lifts, accessible parking and toilets will open up new opportunities for people with disability, parents with prams, and anyone with mobility issues.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe\u2019re now playing an important game of catch-up across the state, but everyone will be all the better for it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The New South Wales Government has announced upgrades for seven new rail stations as part of its $800 million commitment [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[471,2251,8221,1291,1433,163,8203,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-nsw","category-people","category-projects","category-rail","category-rail-industry-news-australia-new-zealand","category-spotlight","category-transport"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30153"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37998,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30153\/revisions\/37998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}