By Roger Jeffries, Technical Director – Transport Advisory, NSW Team Leader, ANZ Technical Practice Leader

Announced in November 2016, Sydney Metro West will connect Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, doubling rail capacity between these two areas and linking new communities to rail services.

When complete, Sydney Metro West will relieve pressure on the T1 Western Line, which was predicted to otherwise be severely overcrowded by the early 2030s. Sydney Metro West will service the key precincts of Greater Parramatta, Sydney Olympic Park, The Bays Precinct and the Sydney CBD.

The 2019 New South Wales State Budget announced a $6.4 billion commitment to Sydney Metro West. Based on our local and international experience helping to design and deliver metros, AECOM wanted to share ideas about how to unlock value from this transformative city-shaping project and maximise the return on what is a significant investment in how Sydney’s growing population will live, work and play.

As Sydney Metro becomes a major network over the coming decades, there is an opportunity to use the most up to date global design and construction techniques to deliver even greater value. Expect to see greater use of advanced material technologies, digital engineering as standard in both design and construction to enhance operational efficiencies, and best-practice approaches to sustainability through energy generation and efficiency innovations.

As Sydney Metro is one of the largest metro projects underway anywhere in the world, the project provides a great opportunity to develop Sydney’s modular and prefabricated construction capabilities to create a legacy of skills that can be exported to other Australian projects, and even overseas. Traditionally, Australia has been a net importer of technical skills. Sydney Metro is well positioned to be the catalyst that begins to reverse this trend.

As the planning and design for Sydney’s future metros takes shape, it is worth considering what existing or future challenges this significant investment may help to address. Metro lines currently planned for Sydney are just the start. The government has announced future plans to expand the metro rail network even further with connections from Westmead to Western Sydney Airport, St Marys to Tallawong and Schofields, Western Sydney Aerotropolis to Macarthur and Bankstown to Liverpool.

Far more than public transport enhancements, these new metros have the potential to create new communities, employment, innovation and leisure hubs.

However, to achieve these types of broader benefits requires a holistic approach to the transport planning and land use as opposed to developing individual lines independent of each other. This is about creating uplift for the whole transit ecosystem and the communities it serves, enjoying the efficiencies of a coordinated delivery program and the associated economies of scale.

All aboard Sydney!

 

* Final alignment for Sydney Metro West is yet to be confirmed. Strategic options being investigated at Rydalmere and Pyrmont.