The closure of the Great Western Highway at Mount Victoria has highlighted the serious shortcomings of Transport Infrastructure connecting the communities of Central Western NSW to the Sydney Basin.
The closure of Victoria Pass has created massive disruptions and extensive economic impact on the Central West. Here are some facts:
- 95% of businesses have reported a reduction in turnover
- 30% have said their transport costs have increased significantly due to fuel costs and travel delays
- Tourism operators are reporting a decline of up to 15% in visitor numbers to the region, which equates to a loss of about $240m in the $1.6bn tourism sector of the Central West
- The NSW Government has recognised the impact the closure is having on the economy and recently announced a $50m support package, but it doesn’t go far enough, and there will still be businesses that will have to close because of the road closure
As a private citizen, I urge Andrew Gee MP, the federal member of Calare, to call a SUMMIT of the state representatives for Dubbo, Orange and Bathurst and the Mayors of all the local councils within his electorate.
The purpose is to provide a unified voice of the 320,000 people living in the region, for the Commonwealth and NSW State Government to work collaboratively for a meaningful long-term solution to road and rail transport over the mountains.
One suggestion for a possible talking point comes from Rail Action Bathurst. That organisation would like to see the existing Endeavour 2-car train sets (currently used as the Bathurst Bullet) retained after the new Momentum 3-car trains are introduced from 2028. The retained Endeavour trains could then be used to institute a daily shuttle service between Lithgow and Orange, encouraging more people in the region to take the train.
This is a simple solution to part of our transport problems with connectivity over the mountains. If Andrew Gee MP went ahead and held a transport summit, I have no doubt many other worthwhile solutions would come to the surface to deal with our current crisis.
