Green Left Weekly: Sydney North West rail link ‘unfit for purpose’ (July 7, 2014)

The planned single-deck line would be the start of the privatisation of the city’s rail system.

The NSW Coalition government’s proposed private North West rail link, from Chatswood to Rouse Hill, will be “unfit for the purpose” it is intended for, according to Gavin Gatenby, co-convener of EcoTransit Sydney.

Instead of being a more efficient mode of mass commuter transport, the planned single-deck line would be an “entry wedge for the privatisation of the city’s rail system”.

The central plank on the NSW budget, released on June 17, was a plan to sell-off the state’s electricity infrastructure, the “poles and wires”, in order to fund large-scale transport projects — principally the $13 billion WestConnex private motorway, and the private North West rail line, intended to be later extended through the Sydney CBD to Bankstown, at an estimated cost of $10 billion. Continue reading “Sydney North West rail link ‘unfit for purpose’” »