PM pours millions into making travel to Macquarie easier: an update on buses and trains

Last week the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced a $100 million investment in a new transport interchange for Macquarie Park. The investment will ensure the construction of a new bus interchange connecting Macquarie University and Macquarie Centre, improving access to transport options.

The project is intended to streamline the commuting experience for transport customers and reduce congestion on local roads.

“This interchange is a game-changer for peak-hour commuters who travel to and from Macquarie Park every day. It will provide faster, safer and easier transitions between various transport options,” Prime Minister Turnbull said. Read the full government release here.

The investment is part of Sydney’s Metro mega-project which also involves a significant upgrade to Macquarie University train station.

As many of you are aware, Macquarie University station (and the Epping to Chatswood rail line) will be temporarily closed in late 2018 for around seven months as part of this program of work.

The station will reopen in 2019 with improved train services and greater connectivity, with trains running every four minutes (15 trains an hour) during peak time in each direction.

At this stage, we expect the train station closure will occur sometime between September-December 2018. Transport for NSW has advised that the precise date of the train station closure is likely to be made public in February.

We are taking the following actions to manage the impact of the closure:

  • Three working groups are focused on strategies to manage the impact on students, staff and external stakeholders.
  • The Interim Program Manager is developing an end-to-end plan based on solutions currently being put forward by the working groups.
  • The DVC and COO continues to meet regularly with NSW government ministers and staff to discuss progress.

Stay tuned for more updates in the New Year.

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  1. Following Rob Davies’s comment, I think the main problem is the headline of the article: “PM pours millions into making travel to Macquarie easier”. While a negative slant like “PM finally forced to address Macquarie’s transport troubles” would be inappropriate, a positive bias, or ‘spin’, is just as inappropriate.
    It is also inappropriate to be focussed on an individual politician as the source of funding: better would have been to refer to funding from the government.

    However, although the PM may have been involved in announcing it, in fact the press release was JOINTLY issued by the Prime Minister and the Premier of New South Wales. Given that the joint press release describes the work as a “joint project”, one would expect that money would come — jointly — from both the federal and the state governments. If so, then the article here would be misrepresenting that situation.

    1. Thanks for the comment, your point makes sense. We try, with the headlines, to find a simple, engaging way to summarise the content but will be more mindful of slants in future.

  2. Why is the university uncritically publishing a LNP press release which was only made because of the Dec 16 election in Bennelong?

    It was the decision of the current state government to make the new rail link to Rouse Hill single deck, driverless, privatised ‘Metro’, totally incompatible with existing government rail systems. The state is also converting the 8 year old Epping to Chatswood line to run the private Metro trains, creating this problem (station closure) for 7 months from September 2018 to March 2019.
    The state will pay for private buses to replace the trains.
    All totally unnecessary- they could have made it match existing rail systems.

    See http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/longer-journeys-await-commuters-during-epping-to-chatswood-rail-closure-20170705-gx4z7c.html
    https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/northern-district-times/chatswood-to-epping-train-line-closure-means-additional-bus-routes/news-story/873418cc038c72adc55cf49e55f1e672
    http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/one-of-sydneys-newest-rail-lines-will-close-for-at-least-seven-months-just-a-few-years-after-it-opened/news-story/00a0c72cd72887774055d3439b8dd37d
    https://www.sydneymetro.info/station/epping-chatswood

    1. Hi Rob,
      Thank you for your comment. We like to try and keep our community up to date with news and events happening in and around our local community.

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