From the Western Weekender North St Marys

W e have found that North St Marys bus issues have flared up again, it appears only they have half the bus services returned - refer to the report in the Western Syndey Weekender

Residents are fed up
May 20, 2010 at 10:39 AM

North St Marys residents, Barry and Grace Lewis, now have to catch the bus from Forrester Road.For North St Marys residents, Barry and Grace Lewis, catching the bus from their home to the next suburb can take up to one hour. But Mr Lewis, who uses the bus service as his main form of transport, said it never used to be that difficult.

Back in October last year the Westbus 782 bus service, which covered the St Marys and Werrington areas, was cut due to low patronage on the bus. When residents raised their concerns with State Member for Londonderry, Allan Shearan, half of the original bus service was returned.

Mr and Mrs Lewis are among those residents who are disadvantaged, as the bus service no longer travels down Griffith Street in North St Marys. They are forced to catch the bus from the four-laned Forrester Road, which is often too dangerous.According to Mr Lewis, they are basically cut off from accessing the Penrith CBD because it takes so long to get there.

“The 782 bus used to come from Penrith through Werrington and down Griffith Street. It now terminates at Werrington Station,” Mr Lewis said.

“That bus being taken out means that people basically have one choice… if they want to go to a major shopping area, they have to catch the [Westbus] 759 bus to Mt Druitt – but that still takes an hour.”

Fed up with the situation, Mr Lewis sat down with Mr Shearan last week to voice his concerns.

He said Mr Shearan had consulted with a number of residents about the same bus service.

“My representations were forwarded to the Minister for Transport and Roads on May 4. Mr Lewis will be advised as soon as possible upon receipt of the Minister’s reply,” Mr Shearan said.

According to Mr Lewis, the State Government offered a number of reasons as to why the bus service would not travel down Griffith Street, with low patronage being the main concern.

“They [State Government] don’t have a really good excuse. They can’t keep talking about a lack of patronage because people won’t use the bus every day. You’re talking about adding on a maximum of five minutes to the route,” Mr Lewis said.

“Mr Shearan said it would be a battle, but he won it last year.”