Parramatta Light Rail stage two needs to be completed: Business Chamber
Get the finances in order and the shovel ready — that’s the message from a business chamber that has made fresh calls to complete a light rail project.
Parramatta
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The $2.4 billion Parramatta Light Rail’s first stage risks becoming a white elephant if the second part of the project is not completed, Western Sydney Business Chamber has warned.
Fresh calls to end funding uncertainty over stage two have been made after it was recommended in a budget submission.
Western Sydney Business Chamber executive director David Borger called for the NSW Government to allocate funding in the NSW Budget for the light rail after a recommendation was included in Business NSW’s pre-budget submission.
“The NSW Government committed to building a Parramatta Light Rail network and that means we need to see the funding for stage two put on the table to get the project shovel ready,” Mr Borger said.
“We understand that Parramatta Light Rail stage two is awaiting an ‘investment decision’ by the NSW Cabinet.
“My message to government ministers is give the project the green light and let’s get on with connecting Sydney’s central city with its surrounding suburbs.”
The first stage will run 12km from Westmead to Carlingford via Parramatta CBD and Camellia, and is due to open in 2023.
It will replace the Carlingford train line, which closed on January 4.
Mr Borger said the second stage was a vital mass transit connection to link the booming communities of Wentworth Point and Melrose Park with the future Sydney Metro West and allow the regeneration of old public housing stock in Ermington and Rydalmere.
“Parramatta Light Rail stage two ticks so many boxes when it comes to a good public transport project and it builds on the taxpayer investment in stage one,” Mr Borger said.
“The true value of light rail is when it is a network.
“We don’t want to see stage one put at risk of being a white elephant because the NSW Government has shelved the next stages.
“The NSW Government may very well be needing some economic stimulus projects towards the end of the year.
“Getting Parramatta Light Rail stage two shovel ready would be a common sense decision.”
A Transport for NSW spokeswoman said the government was considering the final business case for the second stage of Parramatta Light Rail “with an investment decision to follow”.