Does having a tourist attraction nearby help a train station get lifts or other accessibility improvements?
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The answer is either “no” or “sometimes”, depending on who you talk to.
It’s an issue for Unanderra station, which is the closest to the Nan Tien Temple.
Campaigners for the installation of lifts have been told that being near schools, hospitals or tourist attractions were factors when deciding on upgrades.
But it seems that may not be the case any more.
In a question to Transport Minister Andrew Constance, Wollongong MP Paul Scully asked whether proximity to tourist attractions was considered as part of the “prioritisation ranking criteria”.
Mr Constance offered a one-word answer – “no”.
However, in a set of Transport for NSW criteria used to rank stations for an upgrade, there was a “recreation and tourism” category – where Unanderra scored a zero.
According to Transport for NSW, a nearby tourist attraction is a factor – sometimes.
A spokeswoman said that in 2011 proximity to a tourist site was a part of the core criteria, but now was considered as a “special factor”.
And the Nan Tien Temple just isn’t close enough.
“The Nan Tien Temple is more than two kilometres from Unanderra station, so usually it’s uncommon for customers to want to use a station to visit a tourist attraction so far away,” the spokeswoman said.
“We provide a transport option that could suit customers, including those with a disability, limited mobility and parents with prams, by providing regular, direct route 34 bus services to the Nan Tien Temple from Wollongong Station, which is fully accessible and runs more often than train service options.”