Don’t leave us behind

The new Sydney Metro is a driverless train from Sydney’s Hills area to Chatswood. It is meant to be accessible for people with disability. CID’s advocacy group tested the Sydney Metro train and stations and found serious safety and access issues.

“The doors close too quickly and we get left behind. It’s not safe.”

“Without the staff on the train, we won’t feel safe.”

The latest from our campaign

In late November 2019, we met with Transport for NSW and the Minister for Transport, Hon. Andrew Constance MP.

Minister Constance told us they would work with us to address our concerns.

In March 2020, Transport for NSW confirmed in budget estimates that the train doors will now remain open for a minimum of 15 seconds and 30 seconds at busy stations.

People with disability were being left behind and we are glad this change has now been implemented due to the Advocacy Group’s and your campaigning efforts.

However, after seeing the budget estimates, we are still concerned that the staff will be removed from Metro trains. We still need your help to make sure no staff are removed.

Please email or phone the Minister and ask him to keep staff on Sydney Metro trains which make it accessible for people with intellectual disability. Read on to find out how.

The issues

We did action research and put it together into a report, which we sent to the Minister for Transport, Andrew Constance, with 17 recommendations.

Our report contains three key issues we really want to be changed with the Sydney Metro train to make it safer and more inclusive for people with intellectual disability like us.

Top 3 issues

1. Guarantee staff on every train and at every station

The staff are really helpful, friendly and make us feel safe. Without staff on every train and every station, we won’t have anyone to turn to if things go wrong or we need help.

2. Keep the doors open long enough for everyone to get on the train

When we tested the train some of us were left behind because the doors closed too quickly. Thanks to our campaign, the Government has committed to making the doors stay open longer.

3. Make travel speeds safe for everyone so we don’t fall over

We want the trains to be smoother when taking off and stopping.

See our full list of 17 recommendations.