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NSW and federal government to study “rail options plan” for Badgerys Creek

written by australianaviation.com.au | November 13, 2015

The federal government has officially "declared" Badgerys Creek as the site for a second airport in Sydney. (Jordan Chong)
The federal government has officially “declared” Badgerys Creek as the site for a second airport in Sydney. (Jordan Chong)

Train links to the proposed airport at Badgerys Creek are the subject of a new joint study from the federal and NSW state governments.

In addition to the rail transport needs of the airport, the “rail options plan” will also consider the broader transport network required to support the growth in Western Sydney, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss, federal Minister for Major Projects, Territories and Local Governments, and NSW Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance said in a joint statement on Friday.

“The momentum continues to grow on this game-changing project for Western Sydney and we are working together to make sure we have the right transport in place to connect the airport site and surrounding employment areas with Western Sydney’s growing residential areas,” the statement said.

“The rail options plan will be completed over the next 12 months and will investigate economic, population and commercial drivers, as well as mapping out costs and timeframes.

“The scoping study will also consider funding and financing issues, including whether value capture techniques could assist meeting the funding requirement.”

In August, Truss confirmed the proposed airport would be designed “rail ready”, with provisions for a station within the terminal facilities, as well as rail tunnels linking that station to the Sydney rail network, included in the design plans.

Further, the cost of the rail tunnels and cavity for the railway station would be about $500 million and that cost was being included in the design plans.

However, it was expected to open some time in the mid-2020s with buses as the only form of public transit available to and from the airport.

Road upgrades have already begun around the Badgerys Creek site as part of the Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan.

On Friday, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Tourism Anthony Albanese told ABC Radio a rail service should be operating from the day Badgerys Creek was open for business.

The federal government “declared” Badgerys Creek as the site for a second airport in the Sydney basin in August, which ensured further planning work on the airport could proceed and airspace around the proposed facility was protected from potential high-rise buildings.

In October, the draft airport plan and environmental impact statement (EIS) was made public for a 60-day community consultation period, paving the way for construction to begin in 2016.

Sydney Airport has a right of first refusal (ROFR) to build and operate a second airport within 100km of the Sydney CBD.

The Commonwealth recently concluded the nine-month formal consultation period with the owners of Sydney Airport and was preparing to release its Notice of Intention (effectively a sales contract) in late 2015.

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Comments (9)

  • Mike

    says:

    The airport needs rail on day 1, not years or decades down the track.

  • Mark

    says:

    We can only hope common sense will prevale. Please look at London and all airport services by rail.

  • Dave

    says:

    Build the rail as HSR to Canberra and Melbourne and Sydney wont need the second airport!
    Cost of both seems about the same.

  • George C

    says:

    To the politicians: please don’t follow the example and history of Melbourne Tullamarine. When it was being planned, it also was made “rail ready”. Fortyfive years later and we are still waiting for a rail line, or tram line, to be built.

  • deano

    says:

    The one thing that needs to be implemented at B/C and for that matter, Mascot
    Purpose built trains ONLY FOR the airport
    Limited stops at “Hub stations
    Single deck with luggage storage facilities

    Airport transfer services and taxis cost an arm and a leg
    Preferable though over bogan filled trains
    I would happily pay $40.00 for a train to either airport if it were built for comfort and speed

  • mike9

    says:

    Gee Whizz , another study at Badgerys Creek , what a surprise !
    and how much will this cost the tax payer ? this comedy never ends . talk about faceless men in grey suits wandering around and politicians listening to them .

  • hfg

    says:

    There’s a elephant in the room that no one ever seems to bring up for this topic:

    Only 15% of trips to and from Sydney airport are done by rail.

    The reason being the outrageous $12.60 station access fee charged by the private operators of the stations on top of the actual train fare.

    Is this rail link also going to have some or all of the operation run by greedy private companies? With Badgerys Creek being significantly further from the CBD and expecting far lower patronage, what sort of fee is going to be charged if these stations and/or trains and/or tracks are privately operated?

  • hfg

    says:

    I forgot to mention that the Sydney Airport rail link station operators also have a contract with the government that blocks RPT bus services at the airport. Very similar to the ridiculous contracts the Government signs with private toll road operators that prevent public transport being created in the respective area.

    Absolutely no point providing a rail link if it’s going to have a massive surcharge and a block on other transport options as happened with Kingsford Smith.

  • Peter

    says:

    If the Politicians could look at a map they would find Leppington railway station which links into the East Hills line not all that far away. By joining Badgery Creek Airport to The Leppington link would give a airport to airport access. This has to be done with a future link to the west down the “track”.

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