‘Just nuts’: The big problem with Sydney’s $25bn Metro West rapid rail line

Comparing the Sydney Metro West with similar projects around the world reveals a glaring difference that must be addressed, says the man who first proposed the project.

The man who first proposed the now-troubled Metro West rail project has implored Chris Minns to press on and to add more stations as a way to help offset the project’s cost and alleviate the city’s housing crisis by triggering the development of homes for an extra 50,000 people.

The Premier recently ordered a review of the high-speed Sydney CBD to Parramatta train line because the cost had doubled to $25bn, leading to speculation it would be canned altogether.

But Billbergia development director Rick Graf — who came up with the idea in 2015 and wanted to build it privately — said axing the Metro West would be “ill advised” and “very disappointing for the people of Western Sydney”.

“The validity of the project is still there” despite the budget overrun, Mr Graf said. “In our view there should be more stations.”

Property developer Rick Graf. Picture: News Corp Australia

The government “should be harvesting the value they create wherever they build a station,” he said.

Mr Graf said it was “just nuts” the current plan had no stop between Parramatta and Olympic Park — seven kilometres apart.

Around the world, the standard for metros was to have a station every kilometre.

A stop at Camellia, near Rosehill, could be part of a revitalisation of the area, creating homes for up to 50,000 people, Mr Graf said. It was in his original plan. Billbergia owns land in the area.

Mr Graf said it was also possible to add a second stop at Olympic Park, to the north, near the new wave pool at Hill Rd.

Urban Taskforce CEO Tom Forrest said there was widespread support for a station at Camellia — an area he said was currently a “dump”.

“It’s a wonderful location for a large development of housing and employment,” Mr Forrest said.

An artist’s impression of what a Camellia Metro station could look like. Picture: Billbergia

He said the main reason a station at Camellia had not been part of the former Coalition government’s Metro West design was that successive transport ministers were “obsessed with delivering a 20-minute transport time to the Sydney CBD.

“It was bizarre,” Mr Forrest said. “Who cares? It will add two minutes.”

He said the Metro West’s benefit was not the speed of the trip to the CBD but rather the “places it stops and regeneration.

“I would be hoping that they are not looking to cancel,” Mr Forrest said, adding that there was also scope to increase housing density around slated Metro stations including at North Strathfield.

State opposition housing spokesman Scott Farlow – formerly the mayor of Strathfield – said existing train services in the area were already full.

Metro West had to go ahead, he said, to help cater for Sydney’s growing population.

“Unfortunately, cutting infrastructure is in Labor’s DNA,” Mr Farlow said.

But Mr Minns said: “If we make a decision to axe the project, then you could take my head off then. But in the meantime, let’s let this review do its job and report back to government.

“The bottom line is we have to work out a way to pay for Metro West that doesn’t destroy the budget, because that’s what we’ve been left with by the previous government.”