A lunch event run by the NSW Government in the middle of Sydney’s CBD has been slammed for causing travel chaos.
The American-inspired dining experience – Open for Lunch, George Street Hoedown – ran between 12pm and 3pm on Friday – but the light rail was blocked from overnight Thursday to hours after the pack down on Friday afternoon.
Signage at light rail stops warned of the closure in the weeks leading up to the event – but the event still caught plenty off guard.
Frustrated Sydneysiders flooded social media with complaints after their plans were thrown into disarray, with many questioning why nearby Hyde Park wasn’t used instead.
Some claimed they could not get to work.
“I can’t get to f**king work if it’s in the middle of the light rail tracks,” one person said online.
“Sydney treats public transport as a system that can just be turned off and on when convenient rather than an essential public service,” wrote another.
“We can’t go lower than this. Can we? What an embarrassment! Disrupting public transport so people can enjoy their lunch and wine,” complained a third.
“There’s literally parks and other large open spaces within walking distance to where they set up,” reasoned another.
Others were quick to point out the irony that the government had blocked one of Sydney’s most critical rail lines on the same day it locked away a protester for doing the same.
“A climate protester is sentenced to 15 months in jail for blocking one side…