HUNTER business leaders say they are impressed with the public transport they have seen in France and believe Newcastle is on the edge of an exciting new era built around the planned introduction of light rail.
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Hunter Business Chamber chief Kristen Keegan said the delegation was seeing first-hand how integrated multi-modal public transport of the sort that Keolis Downer was proposing for Newcastle had greatly improved the liveability of French “second cities” such as Orleans, Tours, Dijon and Angers, with light rail providing the spine of a system that gave people a quick, reliable and affordable service.
“Newcastle has an exceptional opportunity right now to deliver this type of system for its community,” Ms Keegan said.
Property Council of Australia Hunter director Andrew Fletcher, who inspected American light rail last year, said light rail could not be seen as a “silver bullet” to fix all of Newcastle’s transport problems but global operators like Keolis and its competitors had a huge amount of experience in working with funding bodies to ensure that public transport succeeded.
Mr Fletcher said the government had announced its “Transport for Newcastle” reform but had done “a terrible job” in explaining what it meant.
“A lot people are probably thinking ‘Uh-oh, here comes another transport debate’ but there’s an awful lot for people to get excited about because if it is anything like we have seen here then it will revolutionise life in Newcastle,” Mr Fletcher said.
“The debate in Newcastle has traditionally been about one mode over another, or about the supposed delays caused by an interchange but the reality here is that integrated public transport, where the modes work with each other, is the way of the future and the key both to urban renewal and to getting people out of their cars for at least some of their journeys.”
Keolis Downer spokesman Peter Colacino said it was true that French cities had higher density levels in their city centres than Newcastle but the benefits that came from properly co-ordinated public transport would be felt regardless.
Mr Colacino said Keolis’s French operations were indications of what could be achieved in Newcastle.
The Newcastle Herald has joined a fact-finding mission to France hosted by Keolis Downer, which will bid against rival company UGL for the tender to operate the state government's proposed Transport for Newcastle network.
The Hunter's representatives are Herald reporter Ian Kirkwood, Hunter Business Chamber chief executive Kristen Keegan and Property Council of Australia regional director Andrew Fletcher.
Keolis Downer director of corporate affairs Peter Colacino, who is hosting the tour, said the tour provided the opportunity to visit integrated, multi-modal public transport systems of the sort that his company hoped to provide in Newcastle should it win the Transport for Newcastle bid.
Ian Kirkwood has travelled as a guest of Keolis Downer.
