Sydney Metro City & Southwest another step closer

NSW Premier Mike Baird and Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance announced the planning approval process starts today on Sydney Metro City & Southwest – the second stage of Sydney’s new congestion-busting rail line.

With a capacity to move more people in the busiest hour of the peak than the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel combined, this metro will change how people get around our city forever.

As metro construction in the north west takes shape before our eyes, we’re now cracking on with the next stage of tunnelling under Sydney Harbour and the CBD.

The public can now have their say on brand new metro stations at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Barangaroo, Martin Place, Pitt Street, Central and Waterloo as part of the first Environmental Impact Statement for the Chatswood to Sydenham section of the project, which closes on June 27.

The EIS reveals:

• The project will result in around 30 million fewer car trips annually in 2036
• A metro trip from Chatswood to Central will take just 15 minutes – 11 minutes faster than the existing suburban railway system
• New twin railway tunnels will be built, stretching 15.5 kilometres from Chatswood to Sydenham and more than 40 metres below the surface of Sydney Harbour
• A specialised tunnel boring machine combining two types of tunnelling technology will be required to deal with the unique ground conditions under Sydney Harbour
• The project is expected to support more than 6,200 jobs at the peak of construction in 2017-18.

The metro extension under the Harbour into the city will take pressure off the congested Wynyard and Town Hall stations.

Martin Place will become a major interchange, where passengers can switch between lines to travel on different parts of the network. It will transform the way people get around the city and connect to other parts of Sydney.

Major construction will begin next year with the first tunnel boring machine to be in the ground before the end of 2018.

Ultimately Sydney Metro, together with signalling and other rail upgrades across the existing network, will increase capacity of train services into the CBD from about 120 per hour today, to up to 200 services beyond 2024. That’s an increase of up to 60 per cent capacity across the network to meet demand for a growing city.

This Environmental Impact Statement specifically addresses the Chatswood to Sydenham section of Sydney Metro, which includes new metro stations at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross in North Sydney, Barangaroo, Martin Place, Pitt Street, Central and Waterloo. The planning approvals process for the upgrade of the existing railway line to Bankstown will start later this year.