Liberal Candidate for Penrith Stuart Ayres today said he was disappointed the Keneally Labor Government’s budget consigns Penrith motorists and commuters to years more traffic gridlock and slow trains.
“Yet again the State Labor Government has ignored the needs of Western Sydney’s motorists by failing to deliver any funding for the on again-off again M4 East extension,” Mr Ayres said.
“I want to see the M4 East delivered and like most of Western Sydney’s residents am bitterly disappointed the Keneally Labor Government has again consigned local residents to spend hours in traffic congestion each week as they battle to get to and from work,” he said.
“For many Penrith residents Labor’s overcrowded and unreliable public transport is not an option and they rely on Sydney’s road network.
“For those who do use public transport, the budget confirms Labor’s so called Western Express CityRail Service won’t be delivered until 2018 at the earliest.
“Under Labor this means another eight years of overcrowded and unreliable services.
“Contrary to the Treasurer’s statement the Keneally Labor Government would spend $1 billion[1] on this project in the next financial year, it will only spend $30 million on the $4.5 billion project[2], less than 1% of the total project cost[3].
“Kristina Keneally’s plans give Penrith’s commuters no hope of improvement for at least eight years, and given Labor’s appalling track record of delivering major transport infrastructure projects on budget or on time it will likely be longer.
“Labor hasn’t delivered any of its promised new rail links in full in its entire 15 years in Government, so local commuters have every right to be sceptical about the Western Express.
[1] NSW Budget Paper 2010-11, BP1, p8
[2] NSW Budget Paper 2010-11 BP 4, p 4-58
[3] NSW Budget Paper 2010-11, BP4, 4-58
