Member for Davidson, Jonathan O’Dea said the delivery of the final Waratah train this week meant 100 per cent of timetabled services for customers using the North Shore line will be air-conditioned.
The Waratah project is a $3.6 billion Public Private Partnership providing 78 sets of next generation trains for Sydney suburban train customers.
Mr O’Dea said, “In March 2011, only 80% of North Shore line services were air conditioned. Under this government we’ve completed the Waratah project and increased the level of air-conditioning on this line to 100 per cent. Sitting in a roasting hot train in summer or a freezing carriage in winter is now a thing of the past.”
Mr O’Dea said the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government stepped in to save the Waratah project, which in March 2011 was on the verge of collapse.
“It has been just over two years since the NSW Government restructured the Waratah program from its foundations, to deliver on our promise to customers and put these cutting-edge trains on the tracks,” Mr O’Dea said.
“The Waratahs now represent around half of Sydney’s suburban fleet, which means more customers will be able to experience the fleet’s unique safety, accessibility and comfort features.”
Each train has 64 internal CCTV cameras, 32 external CCTV cameras and smart air-conditioning which automatically adjusts to the number of people on board.
Mr O’Dea said NSW Labor talked about this project for six years but failed to deliver even a single train.
“The former Labor Government hadn’t even put in the infrastructure to allow Waratah trains to travel to some parts of the network, and we had to upgrade power supplies across the network to address the mess left behind,” Mr O’Dea said.
The $2.8 billion procurement of new intercity trains means air-conditioned intercity Oscar trains will be moved to the suburban fleet.
For further comment, please contact Jonathan O'Dea on 0418 241 500
