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Work to start on train line between Sydney CBD and Parramatta within five years

Monday, 14 Nov 2016 07:06:25 | Raveen Hunjan

Premier Mike Baird says the Sydney Metro Link will ease traffic congestion in Sydney's west. (ABC News)

Work on a metro train line linking Sydney's CBD with Parramatta, in the city's west, will start within five years, the State Government has announced.

The Sydney Metro West line will link the city, the western suburbs, the inner-city Bays Precinct and Sydney Olympic Park.

New stations will be built at Parramatta and Olympic Park, but the service will not be operational for about 10 years, with a completion date of between 2025 and 2029.

Premier Mike Baird said the train will move about 40,000 people an hour in each direction, relieving congestion.

The Government is yet to confirm the cost of the Sydney Metro West line, but industry experts put the final figure at about $10 billion.

It will be funded by both private investment and proceeds from the sale of electricity distributor, Ausgrid — which secured net $6 billion when it was partially sold last month.

No details, design or dollars: opposition

The opposition was quick to accuse the Baird Government of using the rail announcement as a diversion from Saturday's Orange by-election result.

The final result in Orange isn't known but the Nationals suffered a swing of more than 30 per cent against them and are set to lose the once safe seat to the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party.

Opposition planning spokesman, Michael Daley, questioned both the timing of the announcement and details around the funding model.

"The Government has rushed this announcement undercooked because they're desperate to talk about anything other than what happened in Orange on Saturday," Mr Daley said.

"There are no details, no design, no dollars attached.

"If they're going to spend this sort of money on a project like this, they should do the full analysis, including on what better options there might be — none of that work's been done."

Mr Daley added the State Government had used the funds from Ausgrid for different projects "two or three times over" since its sale.

'Zero downside' to rail project, business says

Director of the Western Sydney Business Chamber David Borger said there was "zero downside" to the train line which he said would "supercharge" Parramatta as a second CBD.

"The Western Line was built in 1855, it often travels of speeds of about 30km an hour, but this new metro could potentially go up to 160km an hour," Mr Borger said.

"It means that there'll be great jobs closer to home for people in outer Western Sydney, particularly Blacktown, Penrith areas.

"This is something that really should be bipartisan — it should be something all of Sydney gets behind."

Mr Borger said most of the rail line will need to be built underground, and could potentially connect with Badgerys Creek, further west, and Malabar, in Sydney's east, in the future.

"We just don't have additional corridors between Sydney and Parramatta," he said

"This will have to be tunnelled the whole way I would have thought, but there will be some opportunities to recoup some of those costs through development on top of the train stations."

He said the cost to travel on the new line will likely be higher than the cost of using the current western line.

AustraliaPlus


 

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