Engineering, Passenger Rail

Businesses push for fast Sydney Metro West

A rail line capable of moving passengers between Sydney’s CBD and Parramatta in just 15-minutes would generate the most jobs and economic activity, a new report has said.

Sydney Metro West is the proposed third stage of the Sydney Metro project.

The Committee for Sydney, the Sydney Business Chamber and the Western Sydney Business Chamber on Tuesday released a report analysing options for a 25-minute, a 20-minute, and a 15-minute transit between the city and Parramatta along the route.

While all three options were considered to be positive for the region, the report’s modelling found a 15-minute scenario including five core stations would generate the most jobs.

A 15-minute train line would create 70,000 additional jobs in Westmead, 75,000 in Sydney Olympic Park, and 45,000 in Parramatta – figures which combine for 39,000 more jobs than what would be generated by a 25-minute train line, according to the modelling.

“Sydney Metro West will be city-shaping,” the Committee for Sydney’s policy director Eamon Waterford said.

“With a fast journey to Parramatta, it will support the NSW Government’s vision of rebalancing jobs from the eastern Sydney CBD towards the Central River City focused on Greater Parramatta and, in future, the Western Parkland City.

“A faster Metro journey will also create new potential for housing and to bring jobs closer to where people in Western Sydney live. This housing uplift along the corridor could give communities in the West new access to fast train and offer a genuine alternative to a long commute into the east of the city.”

Sydney Business Chamber’s Western Sydney Director David Borger reiterated a faster journey showed more benefits under the modelling.

“Areas like Westmead and Olympic Park could see an additional 20-30,000 jobs created if the journey was 20 minutes or less,” Borger said. “These would also be high-quality, skilled jobs, the sort we need to boost the economy of a rapidly growing Western Sydney.”

3 Comments

  1. At the end of the day, what difference in reality does it really make whether it’s 15 or 20 minutes? Do some people seriously think that most commuters will plan their journey down to the last minute? It’s a load of crap. The real issue is to provide access for a greater number of potential commuters and that can only be provided by having more stations along the route. Metros are not meant to be express services. In fact you can already get an express service to and from Parramatta and the Sydney CBD in 25 minutes, which could be reduced further if there was the political will to achieve it. But that wouldn’t suit the Government’s metro agenda.

  2. I agree, it’s a question of capacity rather than speed. Will the proposed single decker metro trains provide the capacity? Individually they may not but if the trains are autonomous, have wider doors for less dwell, and can run at closer spacing, then the capacity might be increased over the current double deckers. Means standing for most of the journey though. Will people want to travel like in Hong Kong? Maybe.

  3. The SD metro trains will certainly provide the capacity, similar to a DD train, but with half the seating. The metro could provide greater overall capacity with the potential for greater frequency, but would it actually be warranted, other than through the CBD core? Unless it is extended beyond Parramatta/Westmead along the T1 Western Line corridor, which is by no means certain, the real issue is whether the metro will provide any relief for the current congestion west of Parramatta. I don’t believe it will. The West Metro is basically a separate line servicing a new rail corridor through the Inner West between Parramatta and the CBD. It will have little impact on Outer Western Line services, which will ultimately need further track amplification for the existing network between Parramatta and the CBD to provide more services.

    On the question of acceptance by commuters of the metro trains with limited seating and the need to stand, particularly over longer distances, that remains to be seen. That will be put to the test with the opening of Metro Northwest early next year.