Disability advocate says there is ‘no political will’ to make accessibility upgrades as Brunswick residents plan rally
Christian Astourian lives in a part of Melbourne with aand the disability advocate fears he will no longer be able to get to work when his local train line closes.
“A journey that usually takes 45 minutes will become a two-hour journey to go, and another two hours to come back home,” he tells Guardian Australia. “The department of transport estimated the work on the tram network would cost $2bn, an incredibly small sum compared to the big build pipeline commitment - $184bn.“But because access and upgrades are not shiny new things it is just disregarded, which is incredibly dispiriting.”
The spokesperson said accessibility improvements were being assessed based on tram corridors, rather than on a stop-by-stop basis, with consultation on three priority tram stop corridors: Footscray to Maribyrnong, Fitzroy to Collingwood, and Thornbury to Northcote.
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