<span class="" id="parent-fieldname-description"> NSW premier Mike Baird has put $7 billion behind the development of a second rail crossing for Sydney Harbour, as part of an $8.9 billion commitment to public transport. </span> <p>Baird, who launched the campaign Rebuilding NSW on Tuesday, reserved $7 billion for the new fast-tracked Sydney Rapid Transit line, which will extend the North West Rail Link to join a second harbour rail crossing through the CBD and beyond to Bankstown.<br /><br />“Sydney’s future lies in building a world class transport network,” Baird said. “Sydney Rapid Transit is a game-changer for this city forever – not just in the CBD, but for Western Sydney and right across the network.”<br /><br />In recent months Baird, and NSW minister for transport Gladys Berejiklian, have spoken about the importance of a second rail crossing for Sydney Harbour.<br /><br />Baird said last week that the second crossing would be crucial for the future growth in Sydney’s train network.<br /><br />Currently, just one crossing exists between Sydney’s north and the CBD for trains – a pair of lines over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Under this new investment, the in-construction North West Rail Link would be extended from Chatswood Station through to Western Sydney, via a new underground line under the harbour, and through the CBD.<br /><br />“Sydney Rapid Transit will reduce crowding right across the network, with three brand new stations in the CBD and ultimately a train every two minutes through the city on the new line,” Baird said.<br /><br />“That means moving 100,000 more people every peak hour.”<br /><br />The Rebuilding NSW plan also includes a $1 billion commitment to a Western Sydney Rail Upgrade Program, which Baird said will improve the current network and provide additional and faster services for the T1 Western Line including Penrith and Parramatta stations. <br /><br />“This important project benefits customers in Western Sydney, because these infrastructure upgrades will result in more trains and less crowding,” Berejiklian said.<br /><br />“The improvements also include additional track, signalling and power supply upgrades to enable more express trains into the CBD, and technology that will allow more trains per hour to travel on the Western Line to allow for more service.”<br /><br />Berejiklian said the Western Line upgrade and the Sydney Rapid Transit plan – together around $8 billion in spending – would increase the number of trains accessing the CBD during peak hour by 60%, and would cut the expected crowding on the Western Line by 50%.<br /><br />Baird and Berejiklian also announced a $600 million commitment to the development of the Parramatta Light Rail project.</p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif line-height: 17.0240001678467px background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">Funding for the rail tunnel, and the also announced multi-billion Western Harbour road tunnel, is predicated on revenue raised from the government’s proposed privatisation of electricity assets.</span></p>
