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NSW Transport Minister John Graham has signalled that extensions to rail lines near Sydney’s new international airport will be a priority for the state government if the business cases for them stack up.
Leaked plans show the transport bureaucracy’s preference for extending the heavy rail line used by double-deck trains from Leppington to just south of the new city of Bradfield near Western Sydney Airport, while expanding the under-construction metro line north to Tallawong, and south to Campbelltown.
Graham said the government was in the midst of the “peak of the build” for three metro rail lines in Sydney, but stressed the importance of ensuring work around the new airport “isn’t a stranded asset”.
Construction is under way on a 24km metro rail line that will connect the new Western Sydney Airport.Credit: Steven Siewert
“The government’s priorities are really clear … as we move funding, particularly towards that western Sydney area. We’re doing planning work for future rail extensions,” he said.
Business cases for potential extensions of the Western Sydney Airport metro line northwards from St Marys to Tallawong, and south from Bradfield to Macarthur, are due to be completed by early next year.
Asked whether an existing heavy rail line from Campbelltown to Wilton would be electrified, Graham did not directly answer the question but highlighted the need for transport to back up new housing developments.
The confidential plans reveal a push within the transport bureaucracy for new “cross-regional corridors” focused on providing rail connections without passengers having to be routed through the Sydney CBD, such as a “new line” from Parramatta and Westmead to Kogarah.
Rodd Staples, regarded as the architect of Sydney’s metro network, has previously highlighted the need for investment to shift towards “cross-regional links” from south-eastern Sydney to Parramatta, as well as north-western parts of the city to the new international airport.
A missing ingredient, however, is the billions of dollars in funding that will be needed even for relatively short rail extensions. A confidential review two years ago put the cost of extending heavy rail from Leppington to Bradfield South at $4.6 billion.
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Business Western Sydney executive director David Borger endorsed a focus on the city’s south-western areas, such as connecting Bradfield to Leppington by rail, and electrifying the T8 South line to at least Wilton.
“These projects are essential to keep pace with the rapidly growing Macarthur and Wollondilly regions,” he said.
“Potential cross-city connections – such as from Parramatta to Kogarah or Liverpool to Epping – will also be vital.”
However, NSW Coalition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said the most commuters could expect from the Minns government was a promise and a glossy press release.
“The reality of new investment in metro and trains by the Minns Labor government is as realistic as the promise that they had about two new metro stations on Metro West. The most commuters got out of that was a tweet and a Lego set,” she said.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman announced last month that the construction of more metro services would be part of the Coalition’s election platform in the lead up to the 2027 state poll.
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