Plans for a subway project in south-west Sydney are announced
The 13-kilometer stretch of railway planned for the conversion to subway standards will cut through Haylen’s Summer Hill constituency, as well as the seat of Industrial Relations Minister Sophie Cotsis in Canterbury and Customer Services Minister Jihad Dib’s Bankstown constituency.
The troubled track remodeling is one of the reasons the Metro City and Southwest line, which stretches from Chatswood through the CBD and on to Bankstown, is down $8 billion to $20 billion.
The outcome of the Bankstown line rebuild solution will also be crucial to government decision-making on the Metro West project, which could mean the construction of additional stations or a delay in opening beyond 2030.
Martin Locke, associate professor at the University of Sydney’s Institute for Transport and Logistics Studies, said a crucial aspect of the review is likely to be assessing how effectively Sydney Metro has managed costs in a difficult market environment.
“These are complex projects, which means that you have to be even more skilled when it comes to managing the contracts. The cost depends on how well you execute the project,” he said.
Loading
Initial briefings to the government in April outlined a number of scenarios for the Bankstown line rebuild that could add $1 billion to costs and require the existing line to be closed for up to 15 months.
Senior Sydney Metro bureaucrats also recently presented the government with options for completing the revamp, which was already at least a year late.
Canterbury-Bankstown Labor Mayor Bilal El-Hayek said it was imperative that the tube project be implemented as soon as possible.
However, Canterbury-Bankstown Independent Councilor Barbara Coorey said the conversion was not financially viable and her advocates proposed dividing up and demolishing low-rise suburbs.
Loading
“I want the government to shut down the Sydenham tube. “The conversion is completely unnecessary and was never advocated or requested by T3 line commuters,” she said.
“The only way it’s going to work is to demolish thousands of houses down that corridor to build these monolithic skyscrapers to justify the cost of the remodeling.”
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Login here.
