How the four potential light rail routes may affect Western Sydney: Urban Taskforce

The final decision on the Western Sydney light rail network route must be looked at in the context of housing supply, says Urban Taskforce’s CEO Chris Johnson.

The NSW government has narrowed down the options for Western Sydney’s light rail route to four and Johnson says whichever area receives the new infrastructure will see an uptick in supply.

Currently, the four routes under consideration include:

1. Macquarie Park (via Carlingford)
   
   This particular line has the advantage of having land available at present, Johnson said.
   
   
2. Castle Hill (via Old Northern Road)
   
   This line, along with the Bankstown line below, would assist rebalancing the current east-west transport focus.
   
   
3. Bankstown
   
   
4. Sydney Olympic Park (with the potential of reaching Strathfield/Burwood)
   
   Johnson said that Olympic Park is “crying out” for better public transport connections to Parramatta. This option would traverse through redundant industrial land, and “stimulate new development”.

The lines discussed in December 2013 included the following specifics:

Castle Hill Line: Connects Castle Hill, Baulkham Hills town centre, Parramatta CBD, Rydalmere and an interchange to the North West Rail link.

Macquarie Park Line: Connects Westmead health precinct, Parramatta CBD, University of Western Sydney at Rydalmere, Eastwood town centre and Macquarie Park.

“Each of the four options has its own logic and could be great additions to the cities transport network,” said Johnson.

“With metropolitan Sydney needing to double the existing 1.66 million homes over the next 50 years we must find the best locations for these new homes. The city cannot keep spreading outwards and most communities won’t want every suburban street to be doubled in density.

“The best solution to manage this growth will be through apartment living in taller towers at major centres and in mid-rise apartments along light rail routes,” he said.

“Just as the centres along the North West rail will have significant increases in density so too should the centres along Western Sydney’s light rail be places for growth.”

Johnson expects the development of 4,000 or more homes along the route.

The state government hopes that the light rail network will cement Parramatta as Sydney's second CBD and improve connectivity throughout the region.

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Picture of Parramatta skyline courtesy of Gareth Edwards/ CC BY-SA 3.0.