Sydney: North-West Rail Link derailed?

Here we go again, the state government is now trying to get out of their commitment on the Hills rail link. Am I so surprised?

Of course this affects all house prices in the Hills district, especially the Rouse Hill area where they are trying very hard to drum up people to move over there .......

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national...1190486226330.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Comments from viewers:
http://blogs.smh.com.au/newsblog/archives/your_say/015779.html?page=fullpage#comments

Comments from reporter:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national...itment-to-spend/2007/09/24/1190486226365.html
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Costa push to derail Hills link

Linton Besser Transport Reporter
September 25, 2007

* Airport boom to put strain on rail network
* Comment: State backtracks over commitment to spend
* Your say: Sydney's transport future


TREASURY is pushing for a major reassessment of the $3 billion North-West Rail Link and a review of cheaper alternatives such as rapid bus transitways instead.

Although the Premier, Morris Iemma, has insisted it will still go ahead, senior government figures, led by the Treasurer, Michael Costa, want it re-examined.

Since 2005 the expansion program has been the central plank of the Government's promise to reinvest in Sydney's ailing rail network and cater to huge growth on the city's outskirts.

The expansion plan has three arms - two new lines to service growth centres in the north-west and south-west, and a third through the CBD to link them.

While the concept plan for the $1 billion South-West Rail Link was only recently approved, and seems to have survived Treasury's scrutiny, officials in Mr Costa's department have mounted a campaign to dump the North-West Rail Link.

Their campaign comes after the Herald revealed details of a top-level briefing 10 days ago which recommended shelving the $4 billion centrepiece of the rail plan, the CBD link, in lieu of a subway-style metro train under Anzac Parade and Victoria Road.

The state's top accountants, known for their aversion to expensive public transport infrastructure, argue that alternative solutions for the north-west have not been properly considered.

Mr Iemma has failed to rule out delays to the construction of the CBD loop, but last night his spokesman, Glenn Byres, insisted the north-west link would proceed. "It will not be replaced with buses," he said.

The link would involve building a 16-kilometre tunnel from Cheltenham to Kellyville, with four underground stations. Another four kilometres would run further north, mostly on the surface, to Rouse Hill. The rail link has been costed at $3 billion and was to come on line in 2015.

But instead of heavy rail, Treasury is asking questions about a rapid priority busway through the area, which it believes would be much cheaper.

It could still require a tunnel through developed areas at Pennant Hills and Baulkham Hills. Some in Treasury have argued that investors would help pay for an underground tollway with bus priority lanes.

Because building a rail line takes such a long time, some see the busway as an interim solution, which could be converted into a rail line later.

But the Government would need 250 buses every hour to match the carrying capacity of the rail line, which would be able to move more than 12,000 commuters an hour into the city.

By 2031, more than 40,000 commuter journeys from the area are expected into the so-called "global arc" of employment centres in North Ryde, Chatswood, North Sydney, the CBD and near the airport.

Eighteen per cent of Sydney's future housing is planned for the north-west. Its population is expected to reach 475,000 within the next 25 years. Employment in the area is set to increase by 350 per cent in the same period.

The feasibility of the rail extension has been assessed a number of times since 1998. Last year the Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation said it was found to be the best of more than 140 different options.

The almost-complete Epping to Chatswood rail link was designed in large part to help soak up services from the north-west once the entire rail expansion plan was in place.

Mr Costa declined to comment last night, but Phil Davey, a spokesman for the Transport Minister, John Watkins, said the planning process for the link was well under way, and $40 million of $190 million allocated in the budget for land purchases for the link had been spent.


Off the tracks

- 2001 $247m Bondi Beach extension axed

- 2003 Chatswood to Parramatta line truncated

- September 2007 Planners recommend delaying $4b CBD rail link, which connects to the North-West Rail Link, suggesting instead an underground line beneath Anzac Parade and Victoria Road

- Now Treasury now wants the North-West Rail Link reassessed
 
If there was one area of Sydney that deserves a rail line I would say the hills district. I am no infrastructue expert, but I dont get why it wasnt done before so much of the area was develped. Surely it would of been easier.
It seems like only yesterday places like Kellyville were farm land.
 
One word: money. The govt just isn't willing to spend the money on infrastructure. Too drunk on their 'we want to pay down debt' idea.

Not unlike people who just focus on paying off their PPOR mortgage despite the obvious effects on the rest of their finances.
Alex
 
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