North Sydney Council has been left fuming after finding out planned trackwork will shut down the Sydney Metro on the same day thousands will head to the area for its annual festival.
More than 50,000 people are expected to attend Crows Nest Fest on Sunday, with streets shut down to make way for food trucks and live performances.
However, attendees won’t be able to catch the new Sydney Metro to the festival, as the line will be closed all weekend for trackwork.
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The festival has been running for 30 years, run by volunteers who first lodged the plans for the event in January.
Festival organisers Jo Ellen Henderson and Anthony Melinz said they were “shocked” when they found out the Metro would be closed during the iconic event.
“We have been working closely with Transport (for) NSW, that’s why I was shocked to see the email,” Henderson said.
”We went through pains for seven years of construction and planning … it would have been really great to have the support of having it open on this day.”
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The festival had even planned to make the new Metro the centrepiece of the celebration.
Extra streets were set to be closed off and the festival’s capacity had been scaled up significantly, as organisers were anticipating a record crowd coming in on the Metro.
Willoughby MP Tim James said the line closure was “just not right”.
“The Metro’s been open what, two months … and we get told trackwork on the busiest biggest day in Crows Nest,” he said.
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The entire line between Tallawong and Sydnenham will be shut all weekend, and there are no plans for any extra bus or train services to Crows Nest.
“This is putting a bureaucrats agenda before the family agenda, the metro was built for the community,” opposition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said.
9News has reached out to Transport for NSW for comment.
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