West Metro Vital To Beat Rising Tolls And Fuel Prices

12 Nov 2008

The commitment to the West Metro yesterday by the NSW State Government will provide a vital transport alternative to unsustainable car travel, for the fast growing commercial capital of Central Sydney, Parramatta.

“The West Metro is emerging as the means to properly serve the working and residential populations of the Parramatta region, with the City alone set to boom by 30,000 jobs and 20,000 residents in the next 20 years,“ said the Lord Mayor of Parramatta City Council, Cr Tony Issa OAM.

The proposed West Metro will provide Parramatta City with an alternative connection to Sydney via Granville and the Inner West. The Federal Government allocated $20 million to the West Metro feasibility study in the 2008/09 Budget.

“The City Council looks forward to providing input into the West Metro scheme and we call for ongoing State and Federal support to ensure its delivery, without mass public transport options Governments will continue to force people to rely on private car use” the Lord Mayor said.  

A key component is a Metro City Circle - a circular route from Parramatta linking Westmead, the Children’s Hospital and North Parramatta before returning to Parramatta. Two stations in the Westmead precinct will serve the future needs of this growing nationally important medical precinct.

“We are presently drafting an Integrated Transport Plan as a blueprint on how growth and travel demands will be delivered through transportation improvements and new initiatives over the next 10 years,” the Lord Mayor said, adding that this was underlined in a submission last month to Infrastructure Australia on both Metro Lines.

Council also proposes that the Carlingford Line be converted to a metro service which will result in the Carlingford Metro linking Epping to Parramatta and its Metro City Circle. It could possibly extend to Macquarie Park and the Lower North Shore.

“We’ve based the Carlingford Metro scheme on the scrapped Parramatta to Epping Rail Link and could in this way slash public transport travel times from Parramatta to Macquarie Park to less than 20 minutes, connecting Parramatta to the Sydney Arc of employment,” the Lord Mayor said.