WORST DAY TRIP EXPOSED

New overnight West Coast to Hobart route sparks protest

CATCHING a bus to Hobart from Strahan will now take you almost a full day — and requires an overnight stop in Burnie or Devonport. West Coast residents frustrated with the cancellation this month of their threetimes weekly direct service across the mountains have started a petition to get it reinstated. A Government spokesman said: “Improving services overall means removing some services which are unviable.”

A PETITION has started in a bid to overturn a cut to bus services between Strahan, Queenstown and Hobart which has turned a return trip to the state’s capital into a four-day journey.

The petition says the change means it now takes 23 hours or more to get from the West Coast to the capital via Burnie and Launceston.

The trip would also involve at least one overnight stay on the North-West coast.

The petition says the change was further isolating residents and deterring potential visitors from undertaking the trip.

The discontinued Tasselink service, which offered a threeday-a-week service directly from the West Coast to Hobart via the Derwent Valley stopped operating on March 10.

“Little to no consultation was offered to users of the service and the clear majority of residents became aware less than a fortnight before the service ended,” the petition to Tasmania’s Parliament says.

“The replacement service offered by the Department of State Growth requires a oneway journey [with] an initial cost of $80 and a minimum one overnight stay in Burnie or Devonport.”

A return trip from Queenstown to Hobart is now a fourday affair, including overnight stays in Burnie or Devonport.

“Many tourists are no longer able to travel to Queenstown and Strahan due to the lack of public transport. Previously, visitors to Lake St Clair — in the Central Highlands — caught the bus back into the West Coast and then explored what it had to offer,” the petition says.

It says the reduction in tourism would hurt local businesses and damage the West Coast’s ability to offer tourist and work opportunities.

In February, the department said it would review the service changes before they were implemented.

Yesterday, it said that review confirmed that the very low patronage numbers (as few as 1-3 people per trip, or less than 10 per week) could not justify the cost to taxpayers of running the service.

“Improving services overall means removing some services which are unviable,” a spokesman said.

“In deciding the changes the West Coast community told us that most people who travel from the West Coast to Hobart did so for exceptional reasons and would not use the previous service for this purpose, and that the timings provided no benefit to the local community or tourism businesses.

“The changes were endorsed by the West Coast Council, and private operators already cater to tourists.

“The changes also reflect calls for regular services between the West Coast and Burnie to access healthcare and other services, which is now catered for with a seven-day-aweek service.”