Macarthur train services are grossly inadequate and unreliable, while finding a commuter car park at a train station is near impossible after 7am.
And in new estates such as Macarthur Heights residents are stranded because of the lack of bus services.
With a population boom on the way for Macarthur and the entire outer South West Sydney region, things can only get worse – unless something is done.
Campbelltown MP Greg Warren says the state government must urgently formulate, publicly release and deliver a public transport strategy for the entire Macarthur region.
He says the population of the Macarthur in 2036 is predicted to exceed 600,000 – double the 2016 population of the region.
Mr Warren, pictured below with some young commuters at Campbelltown station, said residents in such a rapidly expanding region deserved to know that their public transport needs would be met in the future.
And he has called on neighbouring Liberal MPs Peter Sidgreaves (Camden) and Nathaniel Smith (Wollondilly) to join his push for a regional public transport strategy.
“I hope the Member for Camden and the Member for Wollondilly will support my call for a public transport strategy,’’ said Mr Warren, who is also the opposition spokesman on Western Sydney.
“The state of public transport currently in the entire Macarthur region – in particular Campbelltown – can only be described as dire,” Mr Warren said.
“Trains are predictably unreliable and the oldest trains on the Sydney network are often deployed on the T8 line while those in Sydney’s north ride on the newest trains.
“Public transport in Campbelltown is appalling now so I fear what it will be like in 2036 if no strategy is formulated and delivered.
“The people of Campbelltown and the wider Macarthur region deserve to be informed of any plans regarding local public transport in the future – it’s the least this Liberal government can do,’’ Mr Warren said.
