It is a lobby to reinstate a plan to have a station in Zetland which was deleted back in 2019. So I doubt that it would have been in the draft Metro Plan.
So copying from the article
With Labor in power in Macquarie Street and Canberra, federal minister and MP for Sydney Tanya Plibersek is now lobbying her own side to redraw the metro maps with a Zetland stop. She wrote to NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen last month, and about two weeks ago she met the chairs of the independent review into the Sydney Metro program, Mike Mrdak and Amanda Yeates.
We're talking about two separate metro lines here. The choice between Waterloo and Sydney University was for the City & SW metro, with Waterloo winning out. The wrong decision IMO. It should have been Sydney University to service an existing high catchment area, but it appears the development lobby had far more influence by promoting redevelopment in Waterloo. It may have been possible to construct a station at Waterloo on the Airport Line, albeit with some disruption, and we could have had new stations at both locations. That option should have been investigated further.
It should have been done in the first place when the private consortium proposed construction of the Airport Line, but in order to minimise costs, it limited the number of stations on the route to make it work financially, which it ultimately didn't anyway. It's a reminder that unsolicited private sector proposals are primarily designed to benefit the proponent and don't necessarily align with the public interest. The private ESR extension to Bondi Beach was another example, which thankfully was canned.
Zetland/Green Square has been on the radar for a SE extension of Metro West and as far as I can tell, that still seems to be the case. There haven't been any detailed plans released of the future alignment and station locations of the future SE extension of Metro West other than identifying a possible corridor.
There's a bit of confusion here about whether a station at Zetland has actually been "dropped". That's not the way I see it, as the press article refers to the decision to cut the Metro West Line short at Hunter St to save costs instead of continuing to Zetland as originally intended for the initial phase. It is clearly intended to extend the line to the SE with the stub tunnels and that will no doubt include a station at Zetland along with other intermediate stations and stations beyond.
In his response in Parliament, Rob Stokes is a bit disingenuous in justifying the interim truncation of the original proposal by suggesting that anyone travelling from Zetland to Parramatta could catch a train instead at Waterloo to interchange at Central. As if you would stay on the train anyway to travel to Parramatta via the Metro West Line. The SE extension is more about providing a connection with the CBD from that direction rather than a direct rail link to Parramatta.
On Waterloo v Sydney Uni the EIS considered both options and chose Waterloo.
No doubt the $s that the govt could recoup from new development at Waterloo helped.
On the Airport line, recall someone went through the detailed drawings and while the line is straight under Waterloo, it's at a substantial gradient, so a station would not be possible.
Not to mention the significant shutdown that would be need to break through a 200m long section of tunnel, reinforce, make safe and rewire.
Not sure if a station at Zetland had been dropped. Yes there was some investigative digging, but I don't think anyone had ever promised a line to Zetland, certainly nothing clear on any stops in between.
I'm not sure if the government has accepted all of the recommendations of the interim review, but this should be one of them. It need not delay Metro West, having regard to other possible contingencies, as it can be planned as a separate project in tandem with the Metro West construction. The current plans already allow for stub tunnels under The Domain beyond the turnback for a future eastern extension.
Considering the alignment of the stub tunnels to the south-east, my guess is that it would loop around to College St below the CBD ridge, with a station at Whitlam Square, then under Wentworth Ave and Elizabeth Sts to Central east of the Chalmers St station box and Light Rail station, with a connecting pedestrian extension to Central Walk. From there it could follow the Elizabeth St alignment to Zetland with a possible intermediate station at Redfern East. Beyond Zetland would be a later stage to La Perouse via Maroubra Junction.
Transtopic wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 11:10 pm
The current plans already allow for stub tunnels under The Domain beyond the turnback for a future eastern extension.
Transtopic wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 11:10 pm
The current plans already allow for stub tunnels under The Domain beyond the turnback for a future eastern extension.
Stub tunnels underneath a grassed area.
Hmmmm that sounds familiar from somewhere.
I'm not sure what you're referring to. Do you mean the Eastern Suburbs Railway extending from Martin Place?
Following media comment about the push for the extension of Metro West from Hunter Street to the Entertainment Quarter at Moore park, I can't see how this would be viable. It would require a steep and deep alignment under the Woolloomooloo Valley from The Domain via Taylor Square, passing under the Eastern Distributor, and then back again in a loop under the Eastern Distributor to Zetland. What's the point of it?
They’re already getting a line with station at Waterloo. That is on top of the existing station at Green Square.
There would have to be a strong curve after Hunter St to go due south.
What’s the point? Not much really unless they can get it done for free if the project happened to not be secured. I think the idea comes from the idea the line would eventually run south east as an extension, however I think the light rail has sidelined any such extension for at least another 40-50 years.
An asset of NSW. All opinions/comments are strictly my own. M 5885.
Aurora wrote: ↑Sat Aug 05, 2023 10:40 am
They’re already getting a line with station at Waterloo. That is on top of the existing station at Green Square.
There would have to be a strong curve after Hunter St to go due south.
What’s the point? Not much really unless they can get it done for free if the project happened to not be secured. I think the idea comes from the idea the line would eventually run south east as an extension, however I think the light rail has sidelined any such extension for at least another 40-50 years.
I can't see any other way than to extend from Hunter St in a curve to the south under College St and on to Central (Elizabeth St). It would otherwise require a steep alignment from the CBD ridge into the Woolloomooloo Valley and not over it like the ESR. I believe that the stub tunnel alignment from Hunter St was recently modified in a more south easterly direction rather than to the east, which would fit with a proposed loop to the south under the CBD ridge.
Extension of the line to Central and Zetland should be viewed in the context of access from the south eastern suburbs when the line is extended further.
moa999 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 06, 2023 3:46 pm
Consider how deep MetroWest will be.
Metro C&SW is well below T4 (escalator down from the T4 platform), and Metro West will be below that.
So it would easily go under the ED if say following a similar alignment to the T4 viaduct.
Can't see the point of passing under the ED though, as it would be a steep climb to Taylor Square for example. I still maintain that the more logical alignment would be to follow the CBD ridge from The Domain to Central, bearing in mind that access to the CBD from the south-eastern suburbs for a future extension also has to be considered. Metro West effectively finishes at Hunter St and it then becomes Metro Southeast.
Which of course comes back to the debate of whether this line needs to serve Central.
You'd go under the ED to have a station at Woolloomooloo, which given the large govt holding of old low rise but not heritage land in the area, would enable a station to probably pay for itself.
moa999 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2023 1:33 am
Which of course comes back to the debate of whether this line needs to serve Central.
You'd go under the ED to have a station at Woolloomooloo, which given the large govt holding of old low rise but not heritage land in the area, would enable a station to probably pay for itself.
As I said, it's not a question of Metro West per se needing to serve Central, but the need from the south-east extension to the CBD. Metro West commuters east of Parramatta would have the option of interchanging at Hunter St to Wynyard or Martin Place, albeit with a long walk, or staying on the train to Central, which would probably be faster anyway.
IMO, a station in the Woolloomooloo Valley continuing the line to Taylor Square wouldn't stack up because of the steep alignment required. A station at Whitlam Square on the alignment to Central would adequately service the Oxford St precinct.
moa999 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 08, 2023 12:50 am
But it's already deep.
It's passing below Darling Harbour.
Whatever you do post Hunter St it would still be below the ground level in Woolloomooloo.
It would still need to get up to Taylor Square though, which is higher than Whitlam Square at the CBD end of Oxford St. I can't see the point of passing under the ED and then back again to Zetland, which is the most likely initial terminus for a south-eastern extension. All of the development is on the western side of the ED.
The vested interests of the Entertainment Quarter at Moore Park may want a metro station, even if they're prepared to pay for it, but it ignores the interests of the broader community who will utilise the line on a daily basis and not just when there is peak weekend demand. If they want improved public transport connectivity, they should lobby the government to reinstate the former tram loop at Moore Park with increased services for major events.
