State Member for Moggill, Dr Christian Rowan MP, has slammed the Palaszczuk Labor Government over its failure to deliver for Western Suburbs commuters, following the damning release of new passenger transport figures to public transport advocacy group, Rail Back on Track.
Dr Rowan said the release of the patronage data, which had to be obtained under Right to Information, showed that Labor has all but given up on the Western Suburbs and vindicates his call for an integrated road and public transport plan for the region.
“The release of this data has completely exposed Labor as the all-talk and no-action charlatans that they really are.
“From 2012/13 to 2016/17, Labor has allowed train patronage on the Inner Western Line1 (from Darra to Milton) to decrease by a staggering 10 per cent, while further out west on the Outer-Ipswich Rosewood Line2 (Wacol to Rosewood), patronage has dropped by more than 18%.
“The severe impact of Labor’s shocking 2016 Rail Fail is now completely laid bare for all western suburbs residents to see.
“So inept is this Labor Government at delivering the essential services Queenslanders deserve, they couldn’t even nominate a date for the re-instatement of the 472 weekly train services they cut in 2016 when questioned at the recent Budget Estimates.
“Sadly for the Western Corridor these figures show it’s not just the rail network that has been left to fail under Labor, but also the bus network which has seen a dramatic slide in usage.
“Every single one of the 500-numbered series bus services has seen an average decline in patronage of more than 9 percent, with some services seeing significant falls of 13, 15 and even 21 percent3.
“With commuters now all but giving up on Labor’s public transport network, it’s little wonder why they are resorting to using their own cars and suffering on our already-congested roads.
“This again supports not only my call for a western suburbs integrated road and public transport plan, but Rail Back on Track’s own calls for an urgent review into the Western bus network to correct bus times and review routes, span and frequency.” Dr Rowan said.
