Back in 2009, the then-Labor government allocated $11.4 million to improve access to the station, which is an island platform only accessible by two sets of stairs.

At the time a sign went up at the station showing what the finished project would look like.

It would feature lifts on both the eastern and western sides of the station, alongside the existing stairs.

A covered walkway would take commuters to a central lift which would then deposit them on the station platform itself.

The sign also promised things that have since been delivered, like extra disabled parking spaces and improved lighting.

But it’s those things that still haven’t been delivered almost 10 years later – three lifts and a covered walkway.

READ MORE: Transport Minister shocked by Unanderra station video

The money to build those things was there but problems in the construction – including the discovery that underground utilities were located in the area where the lift pits would be sunk – delayed the project.

The delays stretched all the way to the 2011 state election, when the Liberal Party took power.

The government then took the funding earmarked for the Unanderra lifts and allocated it elsewhere, citing a need to ensure all future access upgrades were “based on evidence-based criteria”.

Sometime after that, the sign near the stairs that promised an accessible Unanderra station disappeared as well.

Residents in the area then went back to square one, campaigning to get back what they were once promised.

Transport for NSW has since said the station will be given an accessibility upgrade but has so far declined to provide a timeline for work to commence.

But it seems likely that nothing will happen for at least another two years.

On Wednesday, the Labor government reaffirmed its commitment to install lifts at Unanderra if it won the 2019 election.

“The 72-step challenge that the elderly, parents with prams, commuters with bags, and people with a disability will be over,” said Wollongong MP Paul Scully.