NSW Transport Minister announces inner-west bus region tender

Updated

After a deluge of complaints about buses in Sydney's Inner West, the Government has decided to put the service out to private tender.

The Government said bus region six, which services suburbs from the city west to Strathfield and Olympic Park, the worst on-time running results in 2016.

"I think the people of the inner-west deserve better," Transport Minister Andrew Constance said.

"If you consider that the private sector's had 19,000 complaints statewide verse 12,000 in this one region alone something had to give, and when it's complaints about buses not turning up, poor performance, we need to take action for our customers."

Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond said other states had successfully used bus franchises.

"By franchising the inner-west bus services what you'll end up with is significant savings for government and much better service for consumers," she said.

"With a complete franchising of the bus service here in New South Wales, on the basis of research we did at the end of last year, it could mean up to a billion dollars over a five-year period for the NSW Government, which they could then invest in other public transport or other outcomes."

Rail, Tram and Bus Union divisional secretary Chris Preston said the Government had reneged on a promise made in December 2016 that existing contracts would continue for five years.

"This betrayal that Minister Constance has bestowed on these 1,200 workers and the travelling community will not be taken lightly," he said.

Shadow transport minister Jodi McKay challenged the Government to release evidence justifying the decision.

"This excuse about complaints, I think, is a red herring and I challenge the Minister to release those figures.

"These are heavily congested, heavily populated areas of Sydney and I think the Minister needs to be honest with the community about why this has occurred and when this decision was made by Government," she said.

Ms McKay described the tender announcement as "another Berejiklian Government sell-off".

"This is a government that is rapidly getting out of the business of running public services. Buses should be run for the public benefit, not for private profit."

Buses and depots would still be owned by the Government and they would continue to regulate timetables and fares.

Topics: road-transport, transport, urban-development-and-planning, state-parliament, homebush-2140, strathfield-2135

First posted