It's been almost five years since Transport for NSW last upgraded an Illawarra train station for wheelchair access.
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Leaving aside the 2014 creation of a station at Shellharbour Junction, which was built from the ground up, the last upgrade of an existing station was back in December 2013.
In 2013 the eastern ramp at Dapto station was redesigned and rebuilt to make it wheelchair accessible.
Despite this, Dapto station is still not deemed fully accessible by wheelchair as the western ramp is too steep.
When it comes to better access to station platforms, it’s Unanderra that gets a lot of attention.
While the long wait for an upgrade is an ongoing source of frustration for Unanderra residents, it is just one of 17 stations in the Illawarra that are waiting for wheelchair access under the government’s Transport Access Program.
That figure represents about half of all the stations on the South Coast line.
Some of those stations – such as Dapto and also Bellambi, Towradgi and Austinmer – already have ramps.
But the presence of a ramp does not automatically make a station wheelchair accessible.
To be classed as wheelchair accessible, ramps must have a gradient no steeper than 1:14.
Also, disabled passengers need to be able to get from the street to the station platform unaided.
Wollongong MP Paul Scully expressed concern that no accessibility upgrades had been carried out at Illawarra stations since 2013.
“The pace of improvements to stations, where needed, under the Transport Access Program, particularly the likes of Unanderra station, is an incredible frustration for me and an incredible frustration for constituents in Berkeley, Unanderra and surrounding suburbs.”
Mr Scully said he was aware of some residents who had to travel to neighbouring stations rather than use the one in their own suburb due to a lack of disabled access.
A Transport for NSW spokesman said accessibility upgrades to stations on the South Coast line “continues to be considered as part of the [Transport Access] program’s ongoing prioritisation process”.
“Transport Access Program projects are planned and delivered under a prioritisation assessment framework including data, policy and stakeholder considerations,” the Transport for NSW spokesman said.
“This ensures the community can have confidence that works will be delivered where and when they are needed most.
“We constantly monitor data to see what project can be delivered next. It is a co-ordinated evidence-based approach and we put every location on the table.”
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
