Richard Kramer just wanted to catch a train from his local station.
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But that wasn't possible for the Unanderra local; two sets of stairs had to be climbed to get to the platform - which just wasn't possible for the quadriplegic who used a mouth-operated wheelchair.
For 30 years he had been waiting for lifts to be installed at the station - a good chunk of that wait was spent watching funds that had been allocated taken away, and other stations get attention first.
With the lifts officially opened on Friday, it was sad that health problems stopped Mr Kramer from seeing his dream become reality.
But he and fellow campaigner Rebecca Schmidt-Lachlan have been praised "for full transport access for everyone" on the official plaque that will remain at the station.
The first sign of real action was way back in 2009, when the then-Labor government allocated $11.4 million to improve access.
A sign at the station showed what was promised - a new walkway over the station and two new lifts.
But while the money was there, the project hit a few snags.
The biggest was the discovery of underground utilities located in the area where the lift pits would be sunk - that delayed the project.
It delayed the lifts all the way to the 2011 election, when the Coalition took power.
The new government decided it had to judge all access upgrades on "evidence-based criteria", which meant the money was taken away and allocated to other projects.
And soon afterwards, that sign that promised so much was removed from Unanderra station.
In 2014, Mr Kramer and other campaigners for better access to Unanderra station had to watch as Artarmon station - in then Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian's own electorate - was approved for a pair of lifts.
This was despite stations on either side of Artarmon already having lifts, which led some campaigners to claim it had "jumped the queue".
Nothing happened until 2019, when then Transport Minister Andrew Constance made a $20 million election promise for three lifts at the station.
It meant lifts were a sure thing - Labor had also promised to build the lifts if elected.
A concept design for the station was released in 2020 and a construction contract signed in March 2021, with construction starting in September of that year.
The original plan had the new walkway and lifts constructed in the same location as the existing stairs.
That changed, thanks to those utilities located underground, with Transport for NSW opting to build the lifts and walkway in the centre of the platform - a change which delayed the project.
The project was expected to be completed in 2022, then early 2023, then mid-2023, then early 2024.
That finishing date is still the current target, with work on footpaths kerbs and asphalting to be completed.
But, really, it was those lifts that everyone has been waiting for.
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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.
