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Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport

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Not to be confused with Sydney Metro West.
Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport
Overview
StatusUnder construction
OwnerTransport for NSW
LocaleSydney, New South Wales, Australia
Stations6
Service
TypeRapid transit
SystemSydney Metro
Operator(s)Metro Trains Sydney
Rolling stockSiemens Inspiro[1]
History
Planned opening2026 (planned)
Technical
Line length23 km (14 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification25 kV 50 Hz AC from overhead catenary[2]
Route map

Map

Legend
Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport
 St Marys
Claremont Meadows services facility
 Orchard Hills
Luddenham
Airport Business Park
Airport Terminal Western Sydney Airport
Bringelly services facility
 Bradfield
This diagram:

Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport, previously known as Sydney Metro Greater West, is a rapid transit rail project currently under-construction in Greater Western Sydney. The project involves the construction of a 23-kilometre (14 mi) line as part of the Sydney Metro system.[3] The line will operate between St Marys, where the line will connect to the Main Western railway line, and Badgerys Creek Aerotropolis at Bradfield via the Western Sydney Airport. It is intended to provide public transport for the upcoming Western Sydney Airport.[4] Construction of the line started in December 2022 and is expected to be completed in late 2026 in time for the opening of the airport.[5][6]

The line will form Stage 1 of the proposed North South Rail Line, which would see the line extended north to Schofields to connect to the Richmond railway line, and south to the Main Southern railway line at Macarthur.[7][8]

Route

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The full line would eventually run from Schofields to Macarthur

Six stations have been proposed for the line.[3][9]

The Sydney Metro Trains Facility and the Operations Control Centre will be located at Orchard Hills, and services facilities will be located at Claremont Meadows and Bringelly.[3][9]

The line is proposed to run via twin tunnels between St Marys and Orchard Hills stations and between the Airport Terminal and Bradfield stations. Tunnel boring machines were planned to be launched from Orchard Hills and the Airport Business Park.[9] The section from Oran Park to Macarthur in the proposed southern extension would also run via tunnels.[8]

Location of stage 1 stations[9]

History

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Planning

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In 2014, the Federal Government under then Prime Minister Tony Abbott initially had no plans to build a rail line. However, it indicated provision for a railway line would be included in the development that may include preparing tunnels under the runway as part of the runway construction and preparing the underground space for a station. It was considered likely the rail connection to the airport would consist of an extension to the South West Rail Link from Leppington.[10] In 2015, then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull indicated that the airport would need both road and rail links to the Sydney CBD.[11] In November 2015, a scoping study into rail investment to service Western Sydney and the Western Sydney Airport was announced. The study was jointly managed by the NSW and the Commonwealth governments.[12] A discussion paper, released in September 2016, proposed various options that could provide a rail link to the airport, listed below:[13]

The projects proposed in the final report (blue), with the existing Trains (orange) and Metro (green) network.
Option Mode
Extension of the South West Rail Link from Leppington Suburban rail
Line to the Metro North West & Bankstown Line at Rouse Hill Metro
Extension of the Sydney Metro City & Southwest from Bankstown via Liverpool Metro
Line to the Main Western railway line at St Marys Suburban rail
New express line to the Sydney CBD via Parramatta Metro
Line between Macarthur and Schofields via WSA and St Marys Metro

The final report, released in March 2018, proposed that two lines would ultimately service the airport: a "North-South Link" from Schofields to Macarthur and an "East-West Link" from Parramatta to the "Badgerys Creek Aerotropolis", an area south of the airport. The East-West Link would likely form an extension of the already-announced Sydney Metro West. An extension of the South West Rail Link to the Badgerys Creek Aerotropolis was also proposed. Interchanging with the North-South Link or East-West Link would be required to access the airport itself.[14]

Later in March 2018, the federal and state governments signed the Western Sydney City Deal and announced the development of stage 1 of the North South Rail Link as part of the deal.[15]

Between 2019 and May 2020, the stage 1 of the North-South Link is referred to as "Sydney Metro Greater West" by the Sydney Metro agency.[16] The project update on 1 June 2020 confirmed the name of the line to be "Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport".[17]

Prior to June 2020, the only stations proposed were at St Marys, Western Sydney Airport and Aerotropolis. The proposed six stations of Stage 1 were confirmed in June 2020 and the exact locations of the stations were confirmed in September 2020.[17][18][19][9]

In October 2020, the project's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was released to the public for exhibition.[20] Since the work would be carried out within the airport boundary, federal planning approval was also required.[21] State planning approval was granted in July 2021, and federal planning approval was granted in September 2021.[22][21]

Funding

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In the 2019-2020 federal budget in April 2019, the federal government announced a contribution of $3.5 billion to deliver stage 1 of the rail link.[23][24] This funding also includes $50 million towards the business case process for the North-South Rail Link and $61 million for the Elizabeth Drive overpass.

In the 2019–2020 New South Wales state budget in June 2019, the state government announced an investment of $2.0 billion to commence the construction of stage 1 for the next 4 years.[25]

In June 2020, the federal and state governments announced a further $3.5 billion contribution to push the construction date earlier to late 2020.[26] Designs were modified to include an additional six kilometres of tunnelling. As of June 2020, the project has a price tag of A$11 billion.[18]

Construction

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In March 2021, three consortia (Acciona, a joint venture of John Holland and Gamuda, CPB and Ghella) were shortlisted to deliver tunnelling works for the project.[27] The station box and tunnelling contract was awarded to CPB and Ghella in December 2021.[28] In September 2023, a tunnel boring machine, one of four tunnel boring machines, had completed the first 1.26 km section of its 5.5 km tunnel.[29] Tunnelling is expected to be complete in late 2024, with track laying and station fitout to occur afterwards.

A second major contract for surface and civil alignment works was awarded to CPB and United Infrastructure in March 2022.[30]

A third major contract was the Stations, Systems, Trains, Operations and Maintenance (SSTOM) package for the construction of the stations and operation of the line. In October 2021, three consortia were shortlisted:[31]

The SSTOM package was awarded to Parklife Metro in December 2022.[32]

Operations

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Being awarded the SSTOM package, Parklife Metro will operate and maintain the line for 15 years after it becomes operational.[32] Siemens will deliver 12 automated 3-car Siemens Inspiro trains to run on the line.[33][34]

References

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  1. ^ O'Sullivan, Matt (29 May 2023). "Why Sydney will end up with three incompatible metro train lines". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Chapter 7: Project description - operation" (PDF). Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "About Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport – Project Overview". Sydney Metro. Archived from the original on 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Sydney Metro Greater West". Sydney Metro Greater West. Archived from the original on 19 April 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Western Sydney City Deal - Connectivity". Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  6. ^ "Scott Morrison announces construction on Western Sydney Airport metro line to start this year". 7News. 1 June 2020. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  7. ^ "North South Rail Line and South West Rail Link Extension". Transport for NSW. 12 March 2018. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  8. ^ a b "North South Rail Line and South West Rail Link Extension corridor identification". Transport for NSW. 12 March 2018. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Project Overview - September 2020" (PDF). Sydney Metro. September 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  10. ^ Saulwick, Jacob (16 April 2014). "Federal government plans for airport rail line but will not build it". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  11. ^ "Malcolm Turnbull says Badgerys Creek airport in Sydney 'will need rail links'". The Guardian. Australian Associated Press. 16 October 2015. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  12. ^ "Western Sydney Airport". Transport for NSW. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  13. ^ "Western Sydney Rail Needs Scoping Study: Chapter 6 – The options" (PDF). Transport for NSW. September 2016.
  14. ^ "Western Sydney Rail Needs Scoping Study Outcomes Report". Australian Government and New South Wales Government. March 2018. pp. 7–11, 54–58. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  15. ^ "Western Sydney City Deal to deliver rail, investment and jobs". Transport for NSW. 4 March 2018. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Project overview - About Sydney Metro Greater West". Sydney Metro. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  17. ^ a b "Western Sydney Airport line: project update". Sydney Metro. 1 June 2020. Archived from the original on 2 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  18. ^ a b "Construction to begin on $11 billion Western Sydney airport metro line". ABC News. 1 June 2020. Archived from the original on 1 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  19. ^ "Station Locations Confirmed For Western Sydney's New Metro". Sydney Metro. 13 September 2020. Archived from the original on 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  20. ^ "Have Your Say On The Western Sydney Airport Metro Project". Sydney Metro. 21 October 2020. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  21. ^ a b "Final planning approval received for Western Sydney Airport metro". Sydney Metro. 22 September 2021. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  22. ^ "Western Sydney Airport Metro gets green light". Sydney Metro. 26 July 2021. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  23. ^ "Western Sydney North South Rail Link Package". Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  24. ^ "Federal Budget 2019: Western Sydney Airport rail line, North-South Rail Link included in NSW $7.3b infrastructure boost". Sydney Morning Herald. 2 April 2019. Archived from the original on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  25. ^ "Infrastructure Statement 2019-2020 Budget Paper No.2" (PDF). NSW Government. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 June 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  26. ^ "$3.5b boost to secure start on Western Sydney Airport rail line". Daily Telegraph. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  27. ^ "Airport metro rail one step closer". Sydney Metro. 1 March 2021. Archived from the original on 17 March 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  28. ^ "New Sydney Metro - Western Sydney Airport line takes off". Sydney Metro. 22 December 2021. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  29. ^ "Tunnel boring machine smashes through at future Western Sydney Airport Station". 4 September 2023.
  30. ^ "Major contract awarded on Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport project". Sydney Metro. 2 March 2022. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  31. ^ "Shortlist for Airport Metro third major contract package announced". Sydney Metro. 29 October 2021. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  32. ^ a b "Final contract awarded for Sydney Metro - Western Sydney Airport". Sydney Metro. 16 December 2022. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  33. ^ "Siemens Mobility to deliver a turnkey metro system for Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport". Siemens. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  34. ^ Artymiuk, Simon (12 January 2023). "Siemens to supply driverless trains for Sydney Metro Western Airport line". International Railway Journal.
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