Sydney Metro West train line to add second entrance for Westmead station

The government has “seen sense” and agreed to add a second entrance to a major Metro West station which is part of Australia’s largest transport project. Read the latest.

The government has seen “sense” and agreed to build a second entrance to the Metro Westmead train station where the $27 billion underground line to Sydney’s CBD begins.

Granville state Labor MP Julia Finn welcomed Transport for NSW’s recent decision to add an Alexandra Ave entrance to the station along with the entry point planned for Hawkesbury Rd after submitting feedback about the sole “inconvenient entrance”.

The March 2022 Environmental Impact Statement document showed most stations along the 24km line had at least two entrances, leading Ms Finn to question why “Westmead station should be treated any differently”.

“With a single entry to the entire station complex, local residents would have to walk much further to access metro trains,’’ she said.

“It would also be less safe in the event of a single entrance needing to be closed.

“In my submission to the government, I said that with population growth to continue into the future, the station should be designed to accommodate that growth from the outset.

“Transport for NSW has at last seen sense and agreed a second entrance should be built at the new Westmead metro station.”

Westmead will be the first stop along the 24km Metro West line.

The metro is being built parallel to the existing train station and metres from the Parramatta light rail, underlining the need for more than one entrance.

“It did not make sense to channel significant foot traffic from the surrounding area and from the light rail and bus transport hubs into a single entrance,’’ Ms Finn said.

Westmead Metro is a major stop along the network and sits on the block bordered by Bailey and Hassall streets, Alexandra Ave and the most congested, Hawkesbury Rd, which leads to Westmead Hospital and is used by ambulances.

“With a congested single entrance on to Hawkesbury Rd, it could be dangerous to have everyone crossing at a single location there is a risk that emergency vehicles could be delayed,’’ Ms Finn said.

“It just didn’t make sense that the NSW Government would build a new metro station with only one inconvenient way in and out.’’

The project, which is Australia’s largest public transport project, will double rail capacity between Parramatta and the Sydney CBD.

It would be a 20-minute journey for commuters with stops at Westmead, Parramatta, Sydney Olympic Park, North Strathfield, Burwood North, Five Dock, The Bays, Pyrmont, and Hunter St in Sydney’s CBD.

Gamuda Australia and Laing O’Rourke Consortium (GLC) has been awarded the contract to deliver the western tunnel. This involves 9km of twin metro rail tunnels between Westmead and Sydney Olympic Park, excavation for two new metro stations, a stabling and maintenance facilities at Clyde Eastern Creek.

Houses and unit blocks that sat on the site were demolished in summer and on Monday, works to install a power supply for the metro station site and the operation of the tunnel boring machines will begin. It will last until June 2023.

It will involve installing underground electricity cables from a substation on

Macquarie St, Parramatta, to Westmead.

The works will be undertaken at night to “minimise disruption to traffic and ensure the safety of motorists, pedestrians and workers around the work area”.

Trenching will also get underway overnight on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from Monday to late this year.

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