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Sydney Metro approval clears way for exact locations of train stations.

October 18, 2019
Flo Mitchell

Matt O'Sullivan via SMH October 18, 2019

Homeowners and businesses will learn the precise locations of seven train stations for Sydney’s $20 billion-plus metro rail line from Parramatta to the central city as early as next week after state cabinet signed off on the final business case for the project.

While landowners near the sites face property acquisitions and disruption from construction of the Sydney Metro West over the coming years, many stand to financially benefit with an increase in property values.

The majority of properties acquired to build the stations and line are expected to be commercial, rather than residential. Much of the rail line will be underground.

The exact locations to be revealed include stations to be built at Westmead, Parramatta, Sydney Olympic Park, North Strathfield, Burwood North, Five Dock and the Bays Precinct at Rozelle.

Cabinet gave the green light to the final business case for Metro West on Thursday last week, multiple sources said.

The government has yet to make a final decision on whether to build stations at Pyrmont in the inner city, or Rydalmere, near Parramatta. It is also finalising the site of the CBD station, although it is expected to be under Hunter Street, linking Wynyard and Martin Place.

A large stabling yard and operations centre for the driverless trains will be built on former heavy industrial land at Camellia, near Parramatta. The suburb will double as the site for a stabling yard for Parramatta's multi billion-dollar light rail line.

NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance's office said it would not comment on speculation about the exact locations.

But Rick Graf, a director at property developer Billbergia, said owners located within 400 metres of the stations would benefit from a "significant lift" in property values.

The Sydney Business Chamber's western Sydney director, David Borger, welcomed the prospect of the locations of the stations being revealed for what he described as the "most important public transport project in Australia".

He urged the government to be ambitious in finding other funding sources, such as from levies on landowners who stood to benefit, to help pay for the project.

Most of the metro rail line from Sydney's CBD to Westmead will be underground.
Most of the metro rail line from Sydney's CBD to Westmead will be underground.Geoff Jones

"That is a fairer way to finance infrastructure, rather than the taxpayer financing everything. The problem with government paying for everything is that you just don't get enough projects done because you can't afford it," Mr Borger said.

Sydney Metro West.

So far, the Berejiklian government has committed $6.4 billion to Metro West over a four-year period.

It wants construction to start next year and a sub-20-minute journey time for people travelling on the new line from Parramatta to the CBD when it opens in the second half of next decade. The number of stations will be central to the final trip time.

The business case for building a metro line between the new $5 million airport at Badgerys Creek and St Marys is also due to be finalised by the end of this year. The line is slated to open in time for the first aircraft to take off from Western Sydney Airport in 2026.

Sydney Metro chief executive Jon Lamonte told a conference last month that the timeframe for building the line was "tight but achievable".

"We have got a job on our hands to get through all the processes to get the thing approved and then get planning processes sorted out and then actually construct it," he said. "So it's a really tight timeline for us to meet."

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