Wednesday, 21 June 2023

 Tim READ (Brunswick) (10:09): On Saturday morning nearly 200 of my constituents braved the cold to march or roll up Sydney Road in support of fellow Brunswick residents who use mobility aids, wheelchairs and prams and who cannot use any of the tram stops for a 5-kilometre strip along Sydney Road from the last accessible tram stop in Park Street all the way to the terminus. In a few years the train line will close for many months for level crossing replacements, and we are all looking forward to the end results of that. But while the line is closed those people using mobility aids will have their range severely limited because they will not be able to use any public transport, and public transport is not really public until all of the public can use it. I understand about a quarter of Melbourne’s tram stops are accessible; three-quarters are not, including that 5-kilometre strip up Sydney Road.

The Greens costed increasing the number of accessible tram stops from about 25 per cent to 55 per cent, and it was a shade over $1 billion when it was costed last year. A level crossing removal of the sort planned for Brunswick is going to be of the order of $1.5 billion. In other words, the comms budget would probably cover the tram stops upgrade in Sydney Road. Why don’t we just do it?