State Member for Clarence, Richie Williamson, has used State Parliament to ask Premier Chris Minns to support North Coast commuters and XPT workers as two of six North Coast XPT services are suspended for 12 months due to a major fleet upgrade.
From next month, the 5:15am Grafton to Sydney XPT service and the 11:44am Sydney to Grafton XPT service will be replaced by road coaches for a 12-month period. However, the remaining four daily services to Casino and Brisbane (and return) will continue to operate as scheduled.
Mr Williamson acknowledged the significant inconvenience this will cause for both passengers and up to 85 XPT employees in his electorate but noted that the long-term upgrade would ultimately benefit the travelling public.
“I'm calling on Premier Chris Minns to do the right thing and introduce 50-cent fares for passengers using the replacement road coach service during this upgrade period. This is a fair and sensible measure to support North Coast commuters who rely on this service,” Mr Williamson said.
Mr Williamson also urged the Minns Government to guarantee that local rail workers will not suffer financial losses due to the service suspension.
“As it stands, local XPT employees could be up to $753.01 a fortnight worse off due to the switch from XPT trains to road coaches. That is simply unfair,” Mr Williamson said.
“The Minns Labor Government must guarantee that no workers will be short-changed as a result of this decision.”
During Question Time in the NSW Parliament yesterday, Mr Williamson directly asked the Premier whether his government would protect workers from financial loss. Instead of a clear answer, the Premier deflected responsibility, blaming previous administrations for delays in upgrading the XPT fleet, prompting laughter from Government members.
“The Premier failed to answer a direct question about supporting workers and commuters. Instead of taking responsibility, his Minister tried to shift the blame to past governments. That’s simply not good enough,” Mr Williamson said.
Mr Williamson said he would continue to push for fair treatment of both passengers and workers and hold the Minns Government accountable for its decisions.
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