A state government plan to free up rail station staff parking places for commuters will do nothing to ease the congestion in Thirroul, according to locals.
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More than 1000 spots across the rail network will be returned to commuters under a plan announced this week by Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian.
A Transport for NSW spokesman said on Wednesday the first stage of the plan was under way, handing back more than 370 spaces at stations in Sydney and on the North Coast. The reallocation would continue for the next 12 to 18 months.
‘‘The second stage will be based on an audit that is investigating spaces to be available right across the network for customers, including stations along the South Coast Line,’’ the spokesman said.
‘‘The staff parking spaces planned for conversion to commuter car parking are surplus to operational staff needs.’’
On a visit to Thirroul station on Wednesday, just six staff spaces were found.
‘‘Six spots? No, I don’t think that will make a huge difference,’’ said one Thirroul store owner.
‘‘The [rail] employees still have to find somewhere to park, so it’s really not going to make any difference.’’
Thirroul train station has seen an influx of commuters parking at the station and catching the train since the new timetable was introduced in October.
Thirroul area neighbourhood forum convener Stephen Kennard has been fighting the parking issue since then.
‘‘Since the timetable changed, the traffic’s been getting worse all the time,’’ Mr Kennard said.
‘‘It’s a constant issue for us, the parking and the traffic. Finding a car park in Thirroul is a problem. You can spend 10 minutes driving around looking.’’
Since the timetable revamp, Mr Kennard has been calling for more parking at the station.
‘‘We’ve actually been looking at where they could have a new car park,’’ he said. ‘‘The idea is that where the old train yard was on the north side of the bridge over the rail line, there’s an area there owned by the State Rail Authority, on the rail level.
‘‘A car parking station could be put there.
‘‘It would relieve traffic quite a lot, but it’s not going to happen in the next month or two. Or the next year or two.’’
He remained unconvinced six extra spots would ease the situation in Thirroul.
‘‘I think it’s a good thing if it actually makes a difference, but in peak times when there’s no car parking at the station, whether it will or not is the question.’’
