“I can announce the government will undertake a study examining up to 10 key corridors around Parramatta for future light rail and bus rapid transport,” Premier Baird said.
To turbo charge the announcement, the Premier penned a prominently-featured column for campaign organiser, The Daily Telegraph which partnered with Seven News to ensure details were also relayed to a healthy chunk of the TV news audience.
Amid the fanfare, you’d be forgiven for thinking the state government had effectively announced a formality to enable work to start on the solution to western Sydney’s transport woes, one that finally gave its long-suffering commuters a “fair go”.
That scenario, if it could be realised, is still a fair way off. There is significant work ahead to assess the viability, suitability and desirability of at least 10 possible routes and of those, which ones would make the cut.
And once the routes are decided, there’s the small issue of whether state and federal governments are prepared to commit the estimated $1.9bn needed for the project to get underway.
But there is already some public niggling over Parramatta Council’s preferred routes for the light rail, prompting an ultimatum from The Hills Shire Council, that it would only support the proposal if Carlingford was not overlooked.
Parramatta Lord Mayor John Chedid has rejected calls from Hills Shire mayor Dr Michelle Byrne and deputy mayor Andrew Jefferies to include Carlingford.
Cr Chedid said there were “very good technical, financial and geographical reasons why a direct link from Parramatta to Macquarie Park via Eastwood is the best option”.
Dr Byrne said any project must consider Carlingford; a suburb that has been promised numerous transport links over the years but had nothing delivered.
“The residents and businesses of Carlingford are used to disappointment when it comes to public transport – but it doesn’t have to be this way,” Mayor Byrne said.
“We had very encouraging discussions with Parramatta City Lord Mayor Clr John Chedid last week and he also expressed a desire to find a solution for the people of Carlingford via the light rail project.
“I would certainly support a Western Sydney Light Rail line which the Premier has referred to as the missing link. But I would only support it if Carlingford is part of the network.”
She said her Council’s preference was always for the Epping to Parramatta heavy rail link to be completed, but in its absence, the existing corridor could be used for light rail.
Dr Byrne said that with only one train to Clyde every hour and infrequent bus services, Carlingford’s 21,000 residents were severely underserviced by public transport despite significant population growth projected for the area.
Perhaps the strongest feature of the western Sydney light rail plan is the political will underpinning it, with bipartisan support to progress it.
In March Labor announced that, if elected next year, it would commit $20m to a western Sydney light rail feasibility study and the establishment of a ‘Western Sydney EconomicDevelopment Authority’.
Even the NSW Greens are backing the proposal, including it as a key plank in the party’s future transport and jobs manifesto.
Ironically, the only foreseeable threat to light rail is a thorough NSW investigation of its feasibility, which reinforces the perception within some sections of western Sydney’s business community that the process to determine light rail as a transport solution, lacked sufficient rigour.
Mr Baird’s announcement comes after Parramatta Council’s initial $1m, year-long feasibility study, unveiled during the State of the City event, co-hosted by Parramatta Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber’s reaction at the time – urging Council to re-examine all transport options, including “elevated rail” - cannot be discounted as a genuine gauge of what Parramatta’s business community felt about its council’s announcement.
The Chamber’s reaction to the Premier’s announcement was markedly more enthusiastic and supportive, perhaps reassured by the prospect that a Transport for NSW-commissioned study would be more thorough and objective and would take into account greater Sydney’s transport mix.
Welcoming the feasibility study, incoming Parramatta Chamber of Commerce president, Roger Byrne, who believes a light rail linking up growth areas without reliance on the Sydney CBD as a central transit hub, would deliver huge benefits
Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian said once the first stage of work is complete, viable options will be taken forward for design and feasibility analysis.
“We will work to ensure this Western Sydney light rail project fits into our urban renewal strategy in the region, including how it will integrate with major projects like WestConnex,” she said.
Unsurprisingly, Parramatta Council’s $1m feasibility study concluded “a light rail network in Western Sydney would be feasible and have numerous benefits for areas with poor access to public transport”. It costed the project at $1.7bn.
Cr Chedid congratulated Premier Baird and Transport Minister Berejiklian for committing to take the next step with the light rail project.
Mr Baird, who is also Minister for Western Sydney, is also committed to setting up a London-style Greater Sydney Authority, reporting directly to him, to coordinate major infrastructure and development projects.
Proposed 10 light rail corridors
These are the corridors to be investigated – including two advanced by Parramatta Council:
• Parramatta to Macquarie Park via Carlingford.
• Parramatta to Castle Hill via Old Northern Road.
• Parramatta to Liverpool via the T-way.
• Parramatta to Bankstown.
• Parramatta to Sydney Olympic Park.
• Parramatta to Rouse Hill.
• Parramatta to Ryde via Victoria Road.
• Parramatta to Sydney CBD via Parramatta Road.
• Parramatta to Macquarie Park via Eastwood (proposed by Parramatta Council).
• Parramatta to Castle Hill via Windsor Road (proposed by Parramatta Council).
