Labor will deprive nearly 250,000 residents across Western Sydney of a Metro station in their suburb, cutting direct access to the new Western Sydney Airport and funneling more commuters onto the city's road network.
Labor have announced they will scrap the Liberal and Nationals' plans for new metro lines between Bankstown to Glenfield, and Westmead and the new Western Sydney Airport.
This will leave nearly 250,000 people without direct access to a Metro Station and without a metro connection to the new Western Sydney Airport. It will also impact 20,000 direct construction jobs.
This means that based on the current transport services:
· Someone living in Bankstown travelling to the new airport will have to pay up to $150 for a taxi OR take a 2-hour journey via two trains and a bus.
· Someone living in Wentworthville travelling to the new airport will have to pay up to $120 for a taxi OR take a 1.5-hour journey via two trains and a bus.
· Someone living in Chipping Norton travelling to the new airport will have to pay up to $100 for a taxi OR take a 3-hour journey via two trains and two buses.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said Labor was walking away from the people of Western Sydney.
"Labor are already cancelling projects from opposition because they don't have an economic plan and without an economic plan, they can't build the transport infrastructure that Western Sydney needs," Mr Perrottet said.
"Labor's cancellation of projects to cover their budget blackhole will derail our state's economy.
"Sydney Metro is already transforming the way we move around our city and supporting tens of thousands of jobs.
"Under Labor, Western Sydney Metro jobs would go down the gurgler. This is exactly the kind of short-sightedness that will see our state stall under Labor.
"Under the Liberal and Nationals plan to complete the Metro, we are going to transform Western Sydney and future-proof our transport network."
Minister for Transport, Veterans and Western Sydney David Elliott said this is another example of why Labor is not equipped to govern this State.
"This is Labor 101 - cancelling projects before they've even started," Mr Elliott said.
"This will leave a quarter of a million commuters without access to a fast and reliable Metro system that will get families home sooner.
"The Labor party has proved yet again they can't deliver the infrastructure needs of a growing Western Sydney."
The Liberal and Nationals have committed to finishing Sydney Metro with four new routes, including:
· Tallawong to St Marys
· Westmead to the Aerotropolis
· Bankstown to Glenfield via Liverpool; and
· Macarthur to the Aerotropolis
The two lines that Labor will scrap are extensions to the South West and West lines, which are being built to accommodate up to 80,000 commuters per hour (in both directions) when opened.
Services on these lines will run 20 hours a day, from 6am to 2am, which equates to a commuter capacity of up to 1.6 million each day on the line.
The proposed new lines will be integrated with the broader Sydney Metro network, which includes:
· Sydney Metro North West – completed in May 2019.
· Sydney Metro City and South West – services from Chatswood to Sydenham to commence in 2024, then to Bankstown within 12 months.
· Sydney Metro West – on track to be completed by 2030.
· Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport – The Australian and NSW Governments are working together to deliver this project alongside the opening of Western Sydney International Airport in 2026.
