News / Transport
No ticket to ride without accessible tram stops
Campaigners board Sydney Road tram to spread their message
Brunswick Voice
CAMPAIGNERS for accessible public transport in Sydney Road took their case directly to passengers on Saturday morning to show how difficult it is for people with mobility issues to travel on trams.
Led by Brunswick disability activist Christian Astourian, they handed out flyers to passengers to raise awareness about the push for accessible tram stops along Sydney Road.
For Astourian, who lives with cerebral palsy and uses a motorised wheelchair to get around, it is almost impossible to use the #19 tram because there are no accessible stops in the 5.5 km stretch between Brunswick Road and Bakers Road in North Coburg.
To demonstrate just how difficult it is for wheelchair users, parents with children in prams, and people who require mobility assistance, Astourian boarded a low platform tram at Brunswick Road but was unable to alight where he wanted a few stops further up Sydney Road.
He was forced to travel to the end of the line and then back to Brunswick – a round trip of almost an hour.
The campaign led by Astourian is demanding permanent accessible tram stops on Sydney Road ahead of the construction of the Upfield elevated railway line.
Astourian said the Victorian Government was in breach of the commonwealth Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport, which required all states and territories to make their public transport infrastructure fully accessible by the end of 2022.
He said Premier Jacinta Allan and relevant ministers had not responded to requests to meet to discuss the issue.
“We have been ignored by the government for too long,” Astourian said.
While the elevated railway project has now been postponed for up to three years, campaigners say there is no reason why work cannot go ahead to build accessible tram stops in the meantime.
They have had petitions tabled in both the lower and upper houses of the Victorian Parliament and unsuccessfully requested meetings with multiple Labor Ministers to discuss the issue of accessibility. Two rallies have also been held in Sydney Road to highlight the issue, the most recent last June.
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