The Sydney Metro West has been presented to the people of New South Wales as the only option to improve public transport to Sydney’s western suburbs. There have been no alternatives seriously considered, such as a dedicated fast heavy rail tunnel from Westmead to the CBD.
The following bullet points list what the Sydney Metro West and a fast heavy rail line won’t and will do for the people of Greater Western Sydney.
What the Sydney Metro West won’t do:
- It won’t provide faster travelling times for commuters from Parramatta to the CBD.
- It won’t provide faster travelling times for commuters from stations west of Parramatta to the CBD.
- It won’t provide faster travelling times for commuters from Lithgow and Blue Mountains stations to the CBD.
- It won’t provide fast travelling times from Western Sydney Airport (Badgerys Creek) to the CBD, if it is extended beyond Parramatta to the new airport.
- It won’t attract commuters who currently drive, out of their cars and on to public transport.
What a new heavy rail link from Westmead to the CBD won’t do:
- It won’t provide improved public transport to the Bays Precinct.
- It won’t provide development opportunities along its route.
- It won’t provide slower travelling times between the CBD and Parramatta than the existing heavy rail service.
What the Sydney Metro West will do:
- It will provide improved public transport to the Bays Precinct, if this route is chosen.
- It will provide development opportunities along its route.
- It will provide the same travelling times between the CBD and Parramatta as the existing heavy rail service.
What a new heavy rail link from Westmead to the CBD will do:
- It will provide a fast journey from Westmead to the CBD, stopping only at Parramatta and Strathfield.
- It will provide fast speed suburban services from Emu Plains, Penrith and Richmond to the CBD.
- It will provide fast speed Intercity services from Lithgow and Blue Mountains stations to the CBD.
- It would provide fast travelling times from Western Sydney Airport (Badgerys Creek) to the CBD, if a heavy rail line were to be built from Parramatta to the new airport.
- It would attract commuters who currently drive, out of their cars and on to public transport.
There are several routes proposed for the Sydney Metro West that are well documented, consequently the route of the metro will not be discussed in this document.
The alternative fast heavy rail line has not been promoted or considered by the Government, even though there have been proposals put forward for it in the past. EcoTransit’s suggested route for the fast heavy rail line would leave the main Western Line immediately to the east of Westmead Station and enter into twin single track tunnels.
The tunnels would pass under Parramatta Park to a station in the vicinity of the existing Parramatta Station, allowing for convenient interchange with other services. From Parramatta, the line would continue underground, closely following the M4 and Parramatta Road to Strathfield, where there would also be a station under the existing station. This would allow for interchange between the T9 Northern Line and the T2 Inner West/Leppington Line services.
The line would then continue to the CBD, following the Parramatta Road alignment to Central. Here it would either terminate or continue into the CBD along Sussex Street to a terminus at Wynyard utilising the unused platforms 1 and 2. In the future, the continuation of the line could be considered across the Harbour Bridge to North Sydney, by converting the two eastern lanes back to rail.
The tunnels would be built to the same diameter as the Epping to Chatswood Line, which is 6.5 metres finished size. This would allow all existing double deck rolling stock to operate on the line.
To maximise the possible time savings afforded by a dedicated heavy rail line with minimum stops, the track and signalling would be built to permit 160 kilometres per hour operation.
Cost comparison:
The projected cost of the 25 kilometre Sydney Metro West is in the order of $27 billion (February 2021). This translates to around $1 billion per kilometre, a very large investment that will not benefit the people living in Sydney’s western suburbs.
The length of the heavy rail line that EcoTransit proposes would be 27 kilometres, longer than the Sydney Metro West. Based on the known costs of building the Epping to Chatswood Line ($220 million per kilometre-in 2016$), the 27 kilometres should cost $6.31 billion (February 2021). After adding a 20% contingency to this figure, the cost could go as high as $7.5 billion, which is still nearly $20 billion lower than the Sydney Metro West.
Projected travelling times:
| Station to Central | Via dedicated heavy rail line. | Via Sydney Metro West. | 2017 Timetable (current) |
| Penrith | 46 mins | 61 mins * | 56 mins |
| Richmond | 63 mins | 78 mins * | 78 mins |
| Katoomba | 1 hour 41 mins | 1 hour 56 mins * | 1hr 53 mins |
| Parramatta | 15 mins | 25 mins | 25 mins |
| Westmead | 16 mins | 26 mins | 29 mins |
| Wentworthville | 17 mins | 31 mins ~ | 31 mins |
| Toongabbie | 19 mins | 35 mins ~ | 36 mins |
* allows for 5 minutes to change trains at Parramatta
~ allows for 3 minutes to change trains at Westmead
Capacity:
It is claimed that the Sydney Metro West will “double” the capacity of the T1 Western Line and provide faster travelling times. As can be seen from the above table, the claims on travel time can’t be substantiated.
If the Metro were running at a maximum frequency of a train every two minutes, the crush capacity would be 30,000 passengers per hour. Then the “double capacity” claim would be true however, it is doubtful that this would be the case from day one of operation.
EcoTransit’s proposed dedicated heavy rail line could also operate with a train every two minutes. This would give a crush capacity of 45,000 passengers per hour.
Conclusion:
The Sydney Metro West is an expensive way to provide extra rail capacity to Sydney’s west and it would only benefit commuters travelling from Parramatta, Olympic Park and the Bays Precinct to the CBD. Olympic Park could be better served utilising the existing heavy rail line and the Bays Precinct could be connected to the CBD more economically by light rail.
Commuters travelling from stations to the west of Parramatta/Westmead would be better served by EcoTransit’s dedicated heavy rail line. It would provide a faster and more convenient journey to the CBD as there would be no time lost in having to change trains at Parramatta or Westmead.
Prepared by: Colin Schroeder, EcoTransit, September 2017 (Updated March 2021)