Opinion
Trains are the future for global cities. Let’s not go off the rails, Sydney
By Caroline Wilkie
Rail is undeniably the most popular and greenest form of public transport. It not only offers the best chance of meeting net-zero targets but drives economic growth like no other mode. And yet Sydney is in danger of missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a world-class rail network if uncertainty, delays and about-turns prevail.
Artist impression of a proposed Sydney Metro West station, The Bays.
The decision by the NSW government to proceed with the T3 Bankstown upgrade is a major step to ensuring a thriving rail network into the future. But it must lift any doubt about proceeding with Sydney Metro West as planned. This once-in-a-century transport project must continue. It would double rail capacity between Parramatta and the Sydney CBD by moving more than 40,000 people an hour in each direction. It would create tens of thousands of jobs during construction, support new housing and provide a vital connection for western Sydney residents to health, education and employment precincts.
Halting it mid-construction, with tunnel boring already in full swing, would cost the NSW taxpayer more in the long run and impede Sydney’s sustainable growth.
Even as it considers stopping or delaying Metro West, we now learn the government is seeking advice on extending the same line to the east. With 63,000 people to live in the Green Square precinct by 2036, early planning is required to meet its long-term public transport needs.
There is rising recognition globally that efficient, fast, reliable and safe public transport substantially improves the functioning of communities. In Brussels, policies to reduce car use and increase public transport patronage have enlivened the streets and created more connected neighbourhoods. In Singapore, train stations are being used as community hubs, creating spaces to support small businesses and integrate services seamlessly with people’s everyday journeys.
The Australasian Railway Association’s 2021 Renaissance of Light Rail report confirms that light rail projects can activate urban renewal and support healthier communities. They attract people to move to what were lower-density areas, and this appeal is reflected in their property prices. As Canberra’s light rail project was delivered, average house prices along the corridor rose 39 per cent in the inner north and 27 per cent in Gungahlin, each year for four years, compared with 17 per cent across the whole of the ACT.
And faster rail lines generate significant economic opportunities along rail corridors between cities and nearby regional centres. The ARA’s 2021 Faster Rail Report shows the introduction of faster and more frequent services with Victoria’s Regional Rail Link project led to an 80 per cent rise in patronage over 10 years, while increasing gross state product by an estimated $1.6 billion.
It is critical that governments take on the short-term budgetary and political pain for the long-term benefit of all of us. Halting Metro West would leave residents of western Sydney stranded, with little option but to get in their cars and sit in traffic.
Certainty is also critical for industry. Clear, long-term pipelines allow industry to invest. When projects are cancelled repeatedly, contractors will not bid for projects. We lose competitiveness and the capability to deliver the vital infrastructure that will underpin our net-zero future.
C40, a global network of 100 city mayors, has called for public transport use to double in global cities over the next decade to address the climate crisis. Other carbon-reduction policies, such as the expansion of London’s ultra-low-emissions zone, are expected to lead to greater use of public transport.
One commuter train in Australia takes 578 cars off the road. The ARA’s 2020 Value of Rail report showed a shift of just one in 10 people from rail to private cars would add $4 million a year to Australia’s environmental costs and $55 million in additional costs from road accidents.
As Sydney inevitably grows, we can build it to be safer, healthier and more sustainable – so long as we continue with this once-in-a-generation pipeline of public transport investments.
Caroline Wilkie is chief executive of the Australasian Railway Association.