Labor Party pledges $400m for North-South rail link

Building the “missing link” in Sydney’s rail network could ultimately help the west deliver up to 4000 new jobs and $3.6 billion in economic growth each year, according to Labor.

Labor has committed $400m to kickstart the north-south rail link.

BUILDING the “missing link” in Sydney’s rail network could ultimately help the west deliver up to 4000 new jobs and $3.6 billion in economic growth each year, according to Labor.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has announced $400 million to kickstart the link connecting the surging growth areas of the northwest and southwest of Sydney.

It plans to do so in two phases:

■ Extending the South West Rail Link from Leppington via Bringelly to the new Badgerys Creek airport, and building a new orbital line from Macarthur to St Marys, also servicing the airport;

■ Connecting St Marys to the Sydney Metro Northwest at Rouse Hill, scheduled to open in 2019.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten and cpposition transport spokesman Anthony Albanese announce the $400m commitment to the north-south rail link. Picture: Rob Pozo

A north-south rail solution is “crucial” to the western Sydney growth corridor, according to analysis by Deloitte and Arup for the Western Sydney Rail Alliance.

It would add $44 billion in benefits to the economy from 2024 to 2040, reaching $3.6 billion a year in 2040, its modelling says.

It would also boost jobs by between 2300 and 4000 a year, in addition to the estimated 60,000 jobs created at Badgerys Creek.

Western Sydney is already home to two million people, making it the country’s third largest economy, and is expected to grow by a further million over the next two decades, with more than 300,000 new homes being built.

Federal Labor MPs Ed Husic and Emma Husar examine plans at St Marys station for the party's proposed north-south rail link in western Sydney.

Federal Chifley Labor MP Ed Husic said: “It makes sense for the infrastructure to be in place before people move into their homes. Without it western Sydney more and more will be groaning under the weight of traffic.”

Lindsary Labor MP Emma Husar said: “We need this link irrespective of any airport.”

Labor’s aim is to make western Sydney a “30-minute city”, where residents can reach their jobs, education, health and recreation needs easily on foot, bicycles or public transport.

It is expected a north-south rail link would help attract new businesses to the west, particularly in aviation, agribusiness, manufacturing, technology, health care, education, tourism, transport and logistics.

St Marys train station is one of the proposed links for the north-south rail line.

This in turn will mean less travel on congested roads for the 300,000 western Sydney workers who have to travel outside the region every day for work.

Penrith Council and the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) have both backed the north-south rail link.

Penrith mayor John Thain called it “the single most important piece of transformative infrastructure for the region” and stressed public transport should be a major precursor to the establishment of Badgerys Creek.

WSROC president and Blacktown mayor Stephen Bali said without a rail network there would be “absolute traffic chaos”.

But NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said Labor had not done its homework, adding: “The money on the table from Labor won’t even build one station.”