They are closing....

the local railway line for four months. The powers that be say that this is necessary to 're-sleeper' the line. It might be said that the railway sleeps most of the time anyway. Trains are scarcely frequent. If they were more frequent more people might use them.
However for some of us the train is essential. It is our only accessible means of transport. I am not permitted to take my tricycle on a bus and I know several people who cannot get their gophers on a bus - assuming of course that the bus is one designated as 'accessible'. We do not get the 'mobility allowance'. The price of a regular taxi service is beyond us - and the so-called 'access cabs' are unreliable. There are far too few of them and, naturally, many of them are required at the same time of day making them even thinner on the ground.
So far the authorities have not made any arrangements. It is a problem they need to deal with because they plan on doing the another of the lines in the coming months. This is longer than our line. It carries a great many more people. It carries more people with disabilities.
My social life, such as it is, will be curtailed still further. Perhaps that does not matter. Missing dental appointments does matter (not that I would mind but the dentist will).
Missing meetings will matter too. The state government is using the economic downturn as an excuse to cut back still further on disability services. Labor underspends on disability services by 38% in this state. It has been underfunding services for years and it will continue to do so as long as it can get away with it. In the end of course it will cost more rather than less - but for some people it will be too late.