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\ Melbourne's Upfleld tram line - union & ;
h -community action — —4
by Sheril Berkovitch
Earlier this year community groups,
local ALP branches, trade unions and
local residents in Melbourne formed the
Save the Upfield Line Campaign
to ngnt Metropolitan Transit
Authority (Met) proposals which would
effectively downgrade public transport
in the Upfield Corridor. This covers the
suburbs of Broadmeadows, Coburg,
Brunswick and the City of Melbourne,
and links the western and inner-northern
suburbs to the city.
The system includes a train route from
Upfield to the city and several tram routes
through the area, including Sydney Road
(the major road through Brunswick and
Coburg), and carries 42,000 passengers a
day.
The Met's plans would remove the tram
service from Sydney Road replacing it with
infrequent buses, and would replace the
heavy rail with a light rail. This would mean
downgrading services - in opposition to ALP
policy.
Meanwhile, public transport unions and
the Victorian Trades Hall Council (THC)
have produced a position paper, Upgrade the
Trains, Keep Sydney Road Trams , recom
mending significant upgrading of the Up
field train line, and retention of the trams
with no reduction in frequency. Upgrading
the train line would include increased fre
quency, extending services to evenings and
weekends, and an extra station at
Campbellfield. This would bring many
benefits to public transport users and it is this
plan which has community support.
John Edwards of the Tramways Union
told Tribune that "On March 21 there was a
public meeting where a resolution was
passed opposing light rail and calling for
upgrading and retention of the trains and
trams - similar to the unions' proposal, so
there's unity there already between the com
munity and unions.
"I was seconded to work for the THC for
the Combined Public Transport Unions, and
as I m also a member of the Brunswick com
munity, I got involved in the SULC. There
are other unions involved too."
Broad campaign activities include subur
ban street meetings, handing out leaflets,
collecting signatures and talking to members
of the community. Edwards has spoken at
many institutions and factories including
Fords, Philip Institute, the Automotive Col
lege, as well as schools, libraries, com
munity groups and local councils. SULC
breakfasts have been organised at Upfield
line railway stations to publicise the cam
paign.
The Met has allowed the rail service to run
down, Edwards says. "It's got a 20-minute
peak hour service but every second train
leaves from Gowrie rather than Upfield, so
it's 40 minutes from the terminus. General
ly, the track's dilapidated and needs repair.
There's no evening or Sunday service."
A wide section of the local community
would be affected if the Met proposals are
implemented, lie continued. "Those most af
fected would be the old and very young
children, and the poor. All those people use
public transport to get to work, school and
shopping, and largely getting about.
"Brunswick and Coburg have the lowest
rate of car ownership in the metropolitan
area. Streets are narrow, old and dangerous.
If car ownership was higher the streets would
be clogged with cars, so public transport's
absolutely essential.
"Light rail won't go anywhere near the
Zoo, meaning restricted access for large
groups. If there's no public transport, you
can pretty well forget about going."
Dealing with problems
People with disabilities will have
problems with the light rail. The Met say
they will have specially designed light rail
vehicles, but the unions say that these
haven't yet been designed and will take
years.
Shoppers would also be affected if the
Sydney Road trams go, as they allow people
to get on and off frequently. Light rail would
have less stops and, being further away,
would have an adverse effect on both shop
pers and shopping centres.
According to John Edwards, "the worse
case scenario could be one like Hoddle
Street (Collingwood) Where the shopping
centre dies off sufficiently so that the
government can move in and knock half of
it down and widen Sydney Road so that it's
maybe six lanes. This would effectively
divide Brunswick and Coburg into an east
and west community - one side having little
to do with the other."
Security and safety on the light rail is also
cause for concern. "The Met considered
this," Edwards said, "by suggesting closed
circuit TV cameras monitoring the stops.
This is a complete laugh. They haven't
costed it, but we're talking millions here.
And in terms of people watching the
monitors, all they're going to be doing is
watching people getting bashed up."
Road safety is another cause for concern.
The Met plan is to have only traffic lights to
protect the light rail line. The unions foresee
some horrific accidents should car drivers
try to beat the lights.
Victorian president of the Australian Rail-
ways Union (ARU) George Zangalis
believes there are many reasons why the Up
field line should not be converted to light
rail. Travelling time would be almost twice
as long, he says. And, if the St Kilda/Port
Melbourne line is anything to go by, it will
lose patrons. The service would be quicker
and more comfortable if the heavy rail is im
proved.
Public transport budget
Unions are asking why money received
for the sale of railway land is not going into
the public transport budget.
Zangalis says the government "is not
motivated to improve services but to build
the Western Bypass to allow for the manage
ment of heavy road traffic". Each year $200
million is spent on roads rather than on
public transport - more than half the
transport allocation bill.
Unions and the community feel optimis
tic about their campaign. The unions have
taken the initiative, community support is
there, and the government can't get support
for its proposal.
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