Call for Metro West train line to connect from Westmead station to Western Sydney International Airport

The government is being urged to “stick its neck out” to help connect Parramatta to the new airport and shed “outdated” perceptions that the “stale” eastern suburbs is the face of global Sydney.

Western Sydney International Airport is due to open in late 2026.

The Parramatta Lord Mayor has called for the state and federal governments to extend the Metro West to reach the Western Sydney International Airport.

Speaking at the inaugural Parramatta Lord Mayor’s Business Forum, Martin Zaiter delivered a bold plan to boost western Sydney’s tourism and cater for the booming population by extending the Metro West beyond Westmead.

“Millions of travellers will only book flights into Western Sydney Airport if they know there’s fast, frequent public transport links to the major central business districts in Parramatta and Sydney,’’ he said before a packed audience of politicians and business leaders at Parramatta Town Hall.

“The first and most obvious thing is to fund an extension of the Metro West line from Westmead to Western Sydney International Airport.

“Extending Metro West beyond Westmead and turning it into a backbone of Sydney’s transport network that will service communities for generations just makes sense.

Parramatta Lord Mayor Martin Zaiter in the CBD.

“But it relies on the federal and state governments willing to stick their neck out and back us.’’

Cr Zaiter said there was still a perception of global Sydney belonging to the CBD, the eastern suburbs and the beaches but there was “no way that Greater Sydney can progress and truly thrive unless Parramatta works’’.

The Metro station at St Marys will link to the airport but there are calls for Westmead to connect to the aerotropolis too.

“Eastern Sydney is stale, overpriced and out of sync with the real Sydney,’’ he said.

“Nowadays, when most Sydneysiders look “to the east”, they are looking at Parramatta’s skyscrapers. The suburbs that are growing the most and bursting at the seams with young families – Blacktown, Penrith, Marsden Park – are all to the west of Parramatta.

“And it’s high time government decision makers updated their thinking.

“It is madness to build infrastructure of the future and make investments around an outdated view of where Greater Sydney lives and works.’’

Senior rail supervisor Ben McFadgen at Luddenham Rd, Luddenham. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Western Sydney International Airport’s chief corporate affairs officer Matthew Martyn-Jones said the aerotropolis, which was ready to open in the second half of next year, would host 10 million passengers in its first five years.

He said despite the “fantastic” M12 linking motorists to the airport, the public transport connectivity was “not quite” ready.

He said there would need to be a shuttle service and acknowledged the train line would not be open immediately but would happen “shortly after”.

“Western Sydney International Airport, when it opens, will be better connected than any other airport in Sydney,’’ he said.

By comparison, he said the train line to Sydney Kingsford Smith Train did not open until before the Olympics in 2000 and despite Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport opening in the 1970s, it was only now that a train line was under construction.

Cr Zaiter, who has also advocated for a high-speed train line, also wants Parramatta to be the first stop for tourists landing at Western Sydney International Airport.

“How many of those travellers will come from Asia, land in Western Sydney Airport and look to Parramatta for a week of history, heritage and culture,’’ he said.

“And maybe from there on to the Sydney CBD …. but Parramatta first.’’

Parramatta’s economy is worth $28.8bn and is the second largest in the state, with it home to about 178,000 jobs. Its population will swell to half a million by 2050.