WS Airport Metro

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boronia
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WS Airport Metro

Post by boronia »

I can't find a thread on this;

From SMH Covid updates 1/6/20:
The Prime Minister also confirmed the federal government would hand $1.75 billion in funding to the NSW government to bring forward the construction start date to this year for the Western Sydney Airport metro rail line service.

"We will start it this year," he told program host Ben Fordham. "A big part of coming out of the COVID-19 crisis is our infrastructure spending."
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Re: WS Airport Metro

Post by J_Busworth »

Which line are they actually building out to the airport? Is it the extension of Metro West from Westmead out to the airport or the seperate line from St Marys to the airport?
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Re: WS Airport Metro

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The article states "Building works would begin in 2020, with the metro line through to St Marys train station to the airport’s north via Orchard Hills."
https://7news.com.au/politics/west-syd- ... -c-1071166
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Western Sydney metro construction to commence

Post by tonyp »

I dithered whether to put this in the Sydney West metro thread but it's separate - west of west! One day I guess the Metro West will meet up with it, as will this with the NW metro. Whoever will be moderating in the 2030s can deal with this!
$3.5b boost to secure start on Western Sydney Airport rail line
Construction will start this year on the new Western Sydney Airport line after Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian pledged a further $3.5 billion to get shovels into the ground.
Matthew Benns, The Daily Telegraph

June 1, 2020 6:12am

The metro to the Aerotropolis will start at St Marys.

Construction will start this year on the new Western Sydney Airport train line after Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian pledged a further $3.5 billion to get shovels into the ground.

The jointly funded project will cost $11 billion and see trains pulling into stations at the airport at Badgerys Creek when it opens in 2026.

“Getting work started on this project and many other infrastructure projects across NSW and Australia is critical to my government’s JobMaker program as we rebuild the economy during COVID-19,” Mr Morrison said.

“Construction is already well under way on the airport, and later this year works will start on this new Metro service which will link the suburbs of Western Sydney to the rest of Sydney.”

An artist impression of the Metro station at the Western Sydney Airport.

The jointly funded project was initially estimated to cost around $7 billion and the extra funding announced on Monday is an example of how infrastructure spending will help the economy out of the COVID-19 economic slump.

Monday’s announcement also reveals the location of two new stations — at Luddenham, as part of a future education and innovation precinct, and at Orchard Hills to service a new town centre.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian have pledged a further $3.5 billion to get shovels into the ground.

The proposed alignment map for the Sydney Metro starting at St Marys and ending at the Western Sydney Airport.

It will also include two stations at the new airport terminal, one in the commercial heart of the Western Sydney aerotropolis and one at St Marys to link into the existing rail system.

Ms Berejiklian said the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport was a critical part of the $100 billion infrastructure pipeline to boost jobs and speed recovery.

“The opportunities this mega project will provide are vital as our economy recovers from the financial impact of COVID-19,” she said. “Now more than ever we need projects that provide jobs to support families and this project is a major economic stimulus in Western Sydney.”
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Re: WS Airport Metro

Post by Fleet Lists »

But someone beat you to it this morning starting another new thread on it.
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Re: WS Airport Metro

Post by marcnut1996 »

I am wondering how they can start construction this year if they haven't even prepared an EIS.
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Re: WS Airport Metro

Post by stupid_girl »

I think the cost is excessive for a line running mostly through greenfield.
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Re: WS Airport Metro

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Re: WS Airport Metro

Post by J_Busworth »

I'm glad that they appear to be using the opportunity build a line with intermediate stations that can function as a transport spin for the region. Now they just need to link up Metro West and Metro North West to the line at each end!
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Re: WS Airport Metro

Post by tonyp »

J_Busworth wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 1:46 pm I'm glad that they appear to be using the opportunity build a line with intermediate stations that can function as a transport spin for the region. Now they just need to link up Metro West and Metro North West to the line at each end!
That's the plan, except that southwards it will extend to Macarthur. Metro West will come across from Westmead.
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Re: WS Airport Metro

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marcnut1996 wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 11:06 am I am wondering how they can start construction this year if they haven't even prepared an EIS.
A lot of that would probably go into "planning" and land acquisitions. Work within the airport boundaries is probably covered by existing approvals.
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Re: WS Airport Metro

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From ABC News FB page, unidentified station, underground, presumably St Marys?

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Re: WS Airport Metro

Post by Linto63 »

marcnut1996 wrote: I am wondering how they can start construction this year if they haven't even prepared an EIS.
Depends on how you define 'start'. Many projects have multiple earth-breaking ceremonies...more opportunities for pollies to don a hard hat and high viz jacket.
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Re: WS Airport Metro

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marcnut1996 wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 11:06 am I am wondering how they can start construction this year if they haven't even prepared an EIS.
Yes, it is bewildering. Apart from the EIS, the business case hasn't been released yet. I'd be extremely surprised if it came out positive, although it may in the longer term as part of an extended line. Like Metro West, this project is being rushed out before all of the regulatory and financial implications have been finalised.

The most logical outcome as a first priority should be to extend the SWRL to the airport, as it would provide a more direct and faster rail link to the CBD as well as a sizable chunk of Western Sydney. It would provide more immediate benefits for airport travellers and to the broader rail network as a whole. A CBD link via St Marys is useless.

Contrary to the views of some, which has been discussed at length on other threads in the past, the new airport's eventual private owners will want to compete aggressively with Sydney Airport for business. It won't be totally reliant upon travellers to and from Western Sydney and because of the distance involved, a fast direct rail link to the CBD will be critical to its success. Over the next decade, the Sydney Trains' network will be transformed with the introduction of Automatic Train Operation, allowing faster journeys and higher frequencies. Compatible SD trains could even operate to service both airports.

The rail link with St Marys, whether by metro or the existing network, should be a secondary consideration as a longer term option. If the metro link with St Marys proceeds immediately, then at the very least, provision should be made to allow for the eventual extension of the SWRL directly to the airport station and not just the Aerotropolis. This will avoid the ridiculous situation where travellers from the CBD and South Western Sydney via the SWRL have to change at the Aerotropolis to go one more stop to the airport station. The airport station will have 4 platforms. Any prospect of Metro West being extended to the airport from Westmead will be decades away, if ever. If it does eventuate, then it could branch with the North/South metro line to access the station.

However, I won't be holding my breath as anything to do with extending the existing Sydney Trains' network is anathema to the present State Government, because of their love affair with the metro, regardless of how logical or appropriate it may be in certain circumstances.
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Re: WS Airport Metro

Post by tonyp »

I think you'll find a future Labor government will continue down the same path. Rapid transit (metro) ticks too many boxes. It's relatively easy to build, covering great distances for the money, it's faster, stops at all stations, is popular with users and attracts more of them, has high capacity, doesn't tangle itself up on conflicting or shared movements and, most significantly, is automated, thus saving on operating costs and conflicts with unions.

TfNSW does well with metro and ferries but struggles with the suburban system, bus planning and operation and light rail. There will be little political appetite for developing those systems much further in the future (light rail has or is being completed in all the planned areas of deployment in any case). Metro is simply too politically attractive and overwhelmingly practicable to curtail as a solution and it will steadily move forward in coming years to both establish new corridors and take over major corridors from buses.

I don't anticipate much more conversion of suburban lines to metro, though the Airport and ESR lines have been mentioned in planning consideration. The most important objective for the suburban network is to take the overload off it until it attains a state where it can cope without failures. Apart from new signalling, reduction in route conflict would be a good objective, as well as quicker journeys stopping at more stations.
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Re: WS Airport Metro

Post by Transtopic »

Regardless of which mode of operation is utilised for the St Marys link, my argument is more to do with the selection of that route over the more logical extension of the SWRL. The latter would provide a more immediate fast direct rail link with the CBD, without the need to interchange, as well as providing access to the Aerotropolis and airport for some of the major population centres in South Western and Southern Sydney. The mode is immaterial in this context.

In terms of connectivity with the CBD by rail, which is still an important consideration in spite of the denials of some, who is going to bother catching a train to the airport from the CBD, or even Parramatta for that matter, via St Marys with an interchange along the way, when a more direct route potentially via the SWRL and East Hills Line could be available? Sorry, I forgot, the latter is part of the grossly inefficient Sydney Trains' network. If the SWRL was converted to metro, would they view it any differently? I wonder!

St Marys is on the outer fringe of Sydney and you'll have a hard time in convincing me that a rail link with the airport is more warranted as a priority over an extension of the SWRL, again, regardless of mode. It no doubt will be in the future as part of a broader Outer Suburban rail link, but not in the immediate future. As NSW has a long history of planning new rail lines which never come to pass, which includes more recent metro line proposals, there's no guarantee that over multiple election cycles, the longer term outer suburban lines will be realised. The metro rail link from Badgerys Creek to St Marys could potentially finish up being an orphan.

I take a more pragmatic view and I'm not wedded to one mode or the other. I certainly agree that any new rail links in the higher density inner city regions should be metro, but when it comes to extensions of the rail network in the outer suburban regions, incremental extensions and upgrades to the existing Sydney Trains' network should be given equal consideration. After all, the proposed ATO upgrading will be a game changer for the existing network bringing it much closer to metro operation. It will even allow for platform screen doors to be installed at the busier stations. However, its full potential benefits won't be realised unless there is also a commensurate upgrading in track infrastructure, including amplifications, separation of lines and extensions where warranted.

By TfNSW own admission, the Sydney Trains' network will continue to provide 80% of all rail patronage, even after completion of the current metro projects, so it can't be ignored. It's fanciful to suggest that it could be either wholly or partially replaced by new metro lines. It's neither warranted nor affordable.
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Re: WS Airport Metro

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Thank god there's even traction for a heavy rail line being built which will commence operation in conjunction with the new Airport opening.

Thought I would be 60 before I would witness something like this.

In terms of connectivity, Kingsford Smith and Nancy Bird would be on complete opposite sides directly if a connection is made at Leppington, it'll be like Shanghai Hongqiao and Pudong Airports which are connected via Shanghai subway Line 2- enabling (semi) seamless inter-airport transfers. If I recall correctly, this wasn't always the case and the two airports eventually linked up through progressive extensions to Line 2.

In our case, it'd be building extending the metro from the Aerotropolis to Leppington, and eventually conversion of the T8 line between Glenfield to Wolli Creek

In terms of metro in the middle of nowhere in low density settings, I recall having the options of either taking a premium express Airport train from Incheon International Airport over to Seoul or the limited stops Metro, the latter of which takes just over an hour costing approx $4-5 AUD one way
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Re: WS Airport Metro

Post by tonyp »

Those low density areas in middle and western Sydney where metro corridors are planned certainly won't be low density in years to come. That's what it's all about.
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Re: WS Airport Metro

Post by J_Busworth »

tonyp wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 4:47 am Those low density areas in middle and western Sydney where metro corridors are planned certainly won't be low density in years to come. That's what it's all about.
Exactly! A sensible government would build metro stations on greenfield sites, then allow the areas surrounding those stations to be developed to a higher density/faster than other greenfield sites without a metro station.
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Re: WS Airport Metro

Post by In Transit »

I'm not convinced there is enough critical scrutiny going on over the government's plans in the Aerotroplis. Beyond the ridiculous name, which makes it seem more like thought bubble than reality, the Aerotropolis and surrounding areas are probably the biggest greenfield development Australia is likely to see in this century. That in itself deserves serious scrutiny about what kind of urban form is desirable, and what approach government is taking in its planning.

For example - will the Aerotropolis CBD be more Macquarie Park or more a traditional CBD/town centre structure? That has huge implications for transport, sustainability, usage etc.
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Re: WS Airport Metro

Post by tonyp »

Search Aerotropolis on the Department of Planning website for all the documentation. I agree that more detail still needs to be fleshed out and that there needs to be a better name for the city. It's still in process.
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Re: WS Airport Metro

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Dr. Mike Freelander (LAB) MP for Macarthur expresses dismay at Schofields to Tallawong/Parramatta to Epping treatment between the Aerotropolis and Leppington

https://southwestvoice.com.au/airport-rail-link/
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Re: WS Airport Metro

Post by ed24 »

Would be interesting to know in the circumstances and with Federal money incoming whether Gladys tried to push for an immediate extension either to Tallawong or Macarthur rather than only the middle section.
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Re: WS Airport Metro

Post by STMPainter2018 »

boxythingy wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 10:33 pm Dr. Mike Freelander (LAB) MP for Macarthur expresses dismay at Schofields to Tallawong/Parramatta to Epping treatment between the Aerotropolis and Leppington

https://southwestvoice.com.au/airport-rail-link/
Exactly my issue. Once again my home region is COMPLETELY screwed over when it comes to public transport. All this mass development still going on at a rapid pace and all that's been planned is a POTENTIAL corridor. The Camden area needs heavy rail NOW! And not single deck metro incompatible with the heavy rail system; an extension of the South West rail link that travels through Oran Park and Narellan, connecting to Macarthur, and operated by existing double deck trains. Metro is not gonna be appropriate for this area!
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Re: WS Airport Metro

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boxythingy wrote: Tue Jun 02, 2020 10:33 pm Dr. Mike Freelander (LAB) MP for Macarthur expresses dismay at Schofields to Tallawong/Parramatta to Epping treatment between the Aerotropolis and Leppington

https://southwestvoice.com.au/airport-rail-link/
I agree, it's criminal. Another example of poor planning for the sake of political expediency.

As I said previously, if the metro proposal is to proceed, then at the very least, provision should be made to extend the SWRL to the airport itself and not just fall short at the Aerotropolis requiring interchange to reach the airport from the South West and a faster direct link from the CBD via the SWRL and the East Hills Line. It's as ridiculous as the decision not to extend Metro Northwest from Tallawong to Schofields on the Richmond Line in the first place.

I still maintain that the extension of the SWRL to the airport and not just the Aerotropolis should be the first priority, as it would have more immediate benefits for the existing growth in the South Western region and a more direct and faster rail link with the CBD without requiring interchange. The fact that, heaven forbid, it's not a metro shouldn't come into it. Who is going to travel from Bringelly to the CBD via St Marys?

The North/South link with St Marys can come later, as it's going to be years before development is going to reach a critical mass warranting a rail link, in whatever mode and there are other more pressing infrastructure needs. I'd even suggest that the extension of Metro West to the airport, providing a more direct route to Parramatta, warrants greater priority than the North/South rail link.

With regard to the development of the Aerotropolis, I expect that it will be more along the lines of Macquarie Park, rather than a "CBD" in the true sense of the word and not even in the same way as Parramatta, which is legitimately considered to be Sydney's second CBD. I don't subscribe to the current "Three Cities" planning concept currently in vogue.
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