Acessibility IN

FLEMINGTION STATION &

Sydney market in the
Homebush west
By Harrison Hu 9T

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Part A: Log Book

24th February

My family had just recently moved into Strathfield from where we stayed in Canley Vale for almost
8-10 years. The choice was to live in a more metropolitan area that was closer to the city with a
greater access to more facilities and shopping centres, e.g Strathfield plaza. Since we have only
been here for barely two months, we were still settling in and adjusting to our new environment.
For the time being I was also quite overwhelmed by the entire experience but I decided that I
needed to further engage with the Strathfield suburb and the differences between here and Canley
Vale.

1st March

Even though I lived in Strathfield, the closest station was Flemington Station. Once thing that I
noticed when I walked to Flemington station was that there had always been a sign stating
Flemington Station Upgrade. It made me wonder what or why it was going to go through with the
station upgrade. The station as it turns out was pretty worn-out and out dated with only one
stairway to and out of a platform out of the two there. There were also quite a substantial number
of people going in the morning, with many taking the train towards the city. Even when I would go at
different times, 6:50, 7:20, 8:05, there was always a relatively high number of people taking the
trains. So I would imagine that Flemington was once a small suburb but due to the development in
Strathfield and in the City, people moved into Flemington as a closer way to get to the City. I had a
thought that I could use something relevant to the station upgrade but Im still not too sure what I
can relate it to.

7th March

During the week to prepare for the cross country, I went out for a jog around my neighbourhood on
several days. I found out that there were two parks quite close to where I lived. One was called Airey
park and I would often see many people walking and chatting around from 6pm to 9pm. It consisted
of a large oval with many exercise facilities dotting the circumference. Also at that park was a cricket
training centre which happened to be quite the favourite sport of the people that mostly lived in
Flemington which consists of predominantly Indian. While it was quite populated during weekdays,
on the weekends, the park would be completely filled with people, from those playing cricket and
families just sitting around , having a great time. The other park was much smaller but had a
playground and plenty of green space. I usually see a lot of children and their parents playing
around. So I guess in this area, the parks are often used as a form of recreation or sport which I
didnt see much back in Canley Vale. Seeing as this is quite a change, I was thinking if I could find out
something about the correlation of people living in Flemington and how often they went to these
parks.

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 11th March

So my first proposal was:

Topic: Investigating how many people use the Airey Park from Monday to Friday

Location: Flemington

Focus Questions:

What time of the day do the most people come?

For what reasons do they come at those times?
With whom do they come with to the park?

Primary Research: Surveys and questionnaire with observations

Secondary Research: Case studies of parks

The second idea that I had was to do with the upgrade of the Flemington Station that had just
recently begun. Specifically the proposal that includes the construction of a new covered concourse
overbridge located over the station, station platform upgrades and streetscape upgrades.

Topic: The Flemington Station Upgrade

Focus Questions:

How many people use the train stations?

Why has the station gotten an upgrade?
What are the peoples opinion to having a new upgrade?

Primary Research: Questionnaire and door to door knocking

Secondary Research: How has the population increased in Flemington overtime in relation to the
train upgrade

15th March

A few days ago, my dad took me to the Sydney market at Flemington where farmers sell their
produce whole sale. So I decided to go and the first thing that hit me as I entered the massive hall
was the sheer number of people. Hundreds of people flocked in and out between stalls, all looking
for the best bargain. There were many nationalities including Chinese, Indian, Sri Lankan to Middle
Eastern people and a large spectrum of age groups with some I could imagine in their 80s. Getting to
and back from there, we had to go through Flemington Station. There is a big pathway leading from
the station to the market but there were many stairs involved. Carrying our boxes of oranges and
apples, I sure found it hard getting up and down the stair and it would have definitely been much
harder for the elderly. After I placed my load down at the top of the stairs, I went down to help an
old lady with her box of cabbages and saw many other people doing the same as well.

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With that I decided to have my proposal based on the changes in infrastructure in Flemington (due
to the upgrade in the Sydney Markets as well) that directly affects the behaviour of the people who
visit the Sydney Market in Flemington.

Final Proposal:

Topic: How has the accessibility to Fleming Station and the Sydney markets changed due to the
improvements of infrastructure in those areas?

Location: Flemington, Homebush West.

Focus Questions:

What was the reason behind the upgrade of the station and the market?
What are the peoples opinions of the changes?
How has it impacted the way people use these facilities?

Primary Research: Questionnaires, Photographs

Secondary Research: Information regarding the Flemington Station and the Market

16th March

Today I made my survey using Google forms as it was the most convenient way of storing large
amounts of data on surveys in a quick and accessible way. The first draft of my questions:

How old are you?

Which suburb do you live in?
What method of transport did you take to get to Flemington Market?
What were some of the issues you had with the previous state of the Station/Market?
Do you think new upgrades have improved your experience and what are your opinions on
it?

Instead of printing out paper copies and telling people to write their answers, I would decided to do
them on my phone and record their answers digitally. I would go next Saturday when the Market
opens and interview people then.

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 18th March

Today I went with my dad to the markets again to buy some more foods while I surveyed people.
There were still so many people that turned up even when we came at 1:50 PM which the gates to
the market were supposed to be closed at 2:00 PM.

One of the issues that I regret not having thought about before was how loud and chaotic it would
have been, which would certainly not be the ideal conditions for an interview or any sort of
conversation for all that matters. It was so loud I could barely hear myself talk but I had to ask for
some answers regarding my questionnaire. So instead of asking them inside the market, I asked
people who were either standing outside waiting for someone, or people who were walking back to
the station. However the response I got wasnt too positive as majority of people there were Chinese
and refused to answer any of my questions. I stayed there for almost 2 hrs and only got a total of 32
answers while I did some shopping as well. On the way back home, I saw a lot of people whove
been to the market going down to the station to take a train back. I took this opportunity to ask a
few more questionnaires before the train arrived. In total I managed to get 41 answers from the
survey which I believed was quite sufficient for my report.

From the answers I got today, most of the people I asked were in their 30-40s shopping for their
weekly family needs but there were a few above the age of 60. More than half the people I
surveyed took the train to get to the market while the rest took a car, all coming from places as far
as Blacktown and Newtown. One more thing that I wanted to include was the building of a new car
park in the market which alleviated a lot of the congestion as well as made it more accessible.

23th March

I asked around my neighbours but none of them took the train from Flemington Station. Also I knew
practically no one else that lived in the Homebush west area so I decided that I wouldnt take
anymore primary research and do with what I had. With the primary research done, I started the
secondary research about the Flemington Station and Market upgrade.

The upgrades to the Station were part of a Transport Access program to stay consistent with the
NSW Governments commitment to deliver an efficient and effective transport system around
Sydney due to the significant growth of housing in both the Homebush West and Homebush area.

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The program is designed to have a stronger customer experience outcome to deliver seamless travel
to and between places, encourage greater public transport use and better integrate station
interchanges with the role and function of town centres within the metropolitan area and
developing urban centres in regional areas of NSW. The changes include:

A new covered concourse overbridge that connects The Crescent to the two island platforms

Three new lifts and three sets of stairs providing access from the footbridge to station platforms

An additional new footbridge to maintain pedestrian access to Sydney Markets

A family accessible toilet on the main platform

The upgraded car park in Flemington market also has an enormous solar panel extension. While also
adding 350 new, shaded parking spots, the solar panel uses up to 640 Kilowatts. This means the
market is becoming more sustainable, boasting as one of the greenest food markets in Sydney.

30th March

I did a bit more secondary research on the upgrades of Flemington Station then Sydney Markets.
From the survey I had on Google forms, I compiled all my data and focused on finishing the report. I
will continue to work on the report through the next three days so I can complete it before the day it
is due.

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Contents
1. Introduction 8

2. Location 9

3. Methodologies...10

4. Results & Discussion11

5. Conclusion13

6. Bibliography..13

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 1. Introduction
Sydney has become one of the largest growing cities in Australia with a population just reaching past
the 5 million mark. With such a large population and a growing city to match it, transport around
Sydney has become increasingly important over the past few years. As detailed in NSW 2021-A plan
to Make NSW Number One , the NSW government is committed to providing an efficient and
effective transport system which currently isnt proving to be entirely true.

In this report, the changes to the train system in Flemington, Homebush West and the Sydney
Markets will be reviewed for its effectiveness in improving its issues of accessibility and what the
people of the community think about this change. Due to the sudden growth of population in
Homebush West from 4,265 in 2010 to 6,893 in 2015, the outdated train station has been
refurnished to improve commuter access, minimise pedestrian conflict and improve customer safety
while altogether making the customer experience better overall. Currently, the access to the
platforms is limited by one stairway to and from the station and with the larger number of people
that are currently residing in the Homebush West region, accessibility is quite limited. It is not
accessible to mobility-impaired persons which poses a huge problem because with the Sydney
Market just nearby, people especially the elderly will have problems carrying their large load of
produce up and down the stairs.
There is almost no formal
commuter car parking facility and
access is primarily dependent on
walking through local streets. The
changes to the station include:

A new covered concourse

overbridge linking The
Crescent to the two
platforms
Three new lifts and stairs
allowing for easier access
from the footbridge to the
platforms
An additional footbridge to leading to the Sydney Markets.
A family accessible toilet on the main platform

The report will focus on answering three main focus questions:

What are the reasons behind the upgrade of the station and the market?
How has it impacted the way people use these facilities?
What are the peoples opinions of the changes?

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 2. Location
The Flemington Station and Sydney Market region is located in Homebush West.

Map of the Homebush West Region

Legend:
Green Symbol - Originally Natural Land Mass Blue Text -Homebush Regions
Dark Green Road - Motorway (Toll Road) Red Road- Major Streets
Orange /Yellow Road - Regular Road Black Text - Major Streets/Places

Scale: 1:4500

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 3. Methologies Discussion
Primary Research:
Questionnaires were created about the people who took the trains and visited Sydney
Markets and their opinions on the new changes to these infrastructures. A total of 53
surveys were collected over a period of one day at the Flemington Market and Station.
While there was a limitation of people willing to answer these surveys, the range of
different opinions could have been wider if acquired over a longer period of time, per say
over three weeks instead of just one day. Despite having over 50 surveys, the data sample
is not unbiased and the validity of a range of age-groups and ethnicity is not affirmed due to
a majority of one race at the location.

Secondary Research:

The secondary research predominantly came from the Flemington Station Upgrade
Determination Report, Review of Environmental Factors and Flora and Fauna Impact
assessment. These reports were extremely useful in providing background information and
reasons for implementing these changes while showing exactly what it needs to improve.
However did not provide any quantitative data about the demographics of Homebush West,
so I relied on .idcommunity, a website on demographic resources on the Strathfield council
with its Statistics coming from the ABS website. Further secondary research came from
news articles about the forthcoming car park upgrades in the Paddys Market which gave an
much deeper insight into further changes in the Market.

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 4. Results and Discussion

As from the table above, majority of the people came from the neighbouring suburbs,
Strathfield, Burwood, Cabarita which were quite close to Flemington Station. However it
was quite perplexing to see that the Sydney Markets were attracting people as far as the
Hills district and even Macarthur. It just goes to show how influential the Sydney Market is
and the more reason it should be improved.

How did you get to Sydney Market?

Train Car Walking

30 18 5
Even despite all the congestion and traffic in the car park, a relatively smaller number of people take
the car to the market. With more than half the people surveyed taking the train, it is imperative that
there are changes to the station and the connection to the market so that it becomes more
accessible to get in and out of the location. The newly installed escalators should make it much
easier to carry heavy loads back to the platforms. However it is only a very small sample so much
cannot be said about the overall percentage as a whole.

How long have you been going to the Sydneys Market?

Less than a year 1-2 years 2-3 years 3-4 years More than 4 years

14 13 6 12 8

Though there have been most people coming to the market for less than 2 years, there are still quite
a large number of people that have been regularly coming to the market. Those that have been
coming for over two years must have a full experience of the problems that were present. So they
were given the question of the issues they had experienced over the years buying at the Sydney
Markets.

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What were some of the issues you had with the previous state of the Station/Market?

With some slight variation, all their answers fitted into four main categories as listed below:

Needs more Not enough car space Footpath to Flemington station Lack of parking
facilities e.g Toilets (Sydney Markets) is very inaccessible spaces
(Station)
9 15 22 7
When asking with the worst issue of the Station/Market, the majority responded that
the footpath leading from the Sydney market was very inaccessible. There were a lots of stairs that
lead up to the entrance of the footpath and once they reached past the Station, there were another
set of stairs whether to go out of the station or onto the platform. These people particularly
expressed their displeasure as lifting and carrying heavy loads up and down stairs every week as they
just were not physically capable.
Not enough car space in Sydney Markets. With such a large influx of people coming in finding a car
space can be a nightmare. One of the participants even stated that Once I had to wait over 30
mins to find a parking spot. When there is people and cars moving in the same area, the traffic can
get quite congested.

Are you satisfied with the new and upgraded Station/Market?

Yes No
51 2
An overwhelming number agreed that the changes had a positive effect on their experience at the
Market whether they travelled there by car or train as well as the people using the train station.

From the results, it is safe to say there were many faults in the previous model of the Station and
Market especially in the accessibility aspect. This includes easier access to platforms and overbridges
leading to the market which turned out to be one of the major issues from the people traversing
through the station from the market. Also the availability of car space was important when
considering overall customer experience as many could not conveniently find a spot. However since
the upgrades to the infrastructure in both the station and market, 96% of the people that had an
issue with the old model were satisfied with the finished result when their problems had been
answered.

With the data I acquired from the survey and secondary research, the focus question were
answered.

What are the reasons behind the upgrade of the station and the market?
The reasons behind the proposal were that due to the growing population of Flemington,
accessibility to the station had become limited and thus it needed to change. The main goals that the
Government is trying to achieve is to improve commuter access to Flemington Station and
interchange while minimising pedestrian conflict and crowding points and improve customer safety
and amenity to improve the overall customer experience

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How has it impacted the way people use these facilities?
As part of the Governments proposal the change had indeed improved the facilities with more
space going up the stairs while giving the elderly and disabled the opportunity to use the escalator
to get to their destination. The additional overbridge and footpath leading to the Market resulted
in less congestion and easier access with the newly built car park to alleviate the traffic around the
Market place. It was reported that parking had become so much more efficiently with the
implementation of the new car park. Overall it has made the infrastructures more openly accessible
to people of all kinds of age and disabilities while improving the customer experience.

What are the peoples opinions of the changes?

The vast majority of the people definitely agree that these changes will be beneficial to their
experience and is a change for the better, solving all the issues that they previously had of the older
model.

5.Conclusion
In conclusion, the data from the surveys and this report shows how the changes in the infrastructure
of the Flemington Station/ Market have resulted in a positive impact on the customers experience.
The survey showed that all of the participants had an issue with the Station/Market but were
resolved by the Governments implementation of the upgrade. The accessibility problem that was
once there has finally been eradicated and is supported by the 96% of the participants agreeing that
the change resulted for the better.

6.Bibliography
Vorrath, Sophie (2017) Sydney Market Completes 640kW solar car park, nears 1MW of capacity
http://reneweconomy.com.au/sydney-markets-completes-640kw-solar-car-park-nears-1mw-of-
capacity-66473/
Date Accessed 23th March 2017
.idcommunity(2015) Homebush West
http://profile.id.com.au/strathfield/about?WebID=130
Date Accessed 23th March 2017
Transport for NSW(2015) Flemington Station Upgrade Determination Report
https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/b2b/projects/Flemington_Station_Upgrade_D
etermination_Report.pdf
Date Accessed 23th March 2017
Transport for NSW(2015) Flemington Station Upgrade Review of Environmental Factors
https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/b2b/projects/Flemington_Station_Upgrade_R
EF.pdf
Date Accessed 23th March 2017
Transport for NSW(2014) Flemington Station & Precinct Area Upgrade
https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/b2b/projects/Flemington_Station_Easy_Acces
s_upgrade_Flora_and_Fauna_Impact_Assessment.pdf
Date Accessed 23th March 2017

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