Revealed: $3bn light rail plan from Kingsford to La Perouse | Daily Telegraph
Premier Chris Minns should ignore Treasury bean counters and fast-track a $3bn extension to Sydney’s light rail network that would unlock 50,000 homes and help future-proof the city, industry experts say.
Under a proposal floated by Business Sydney, 8.5km would be added to the existing southeast corridor, incorporating 13 new stops and stretching the light rail route from Kingsford to La Perouse along the Anzac Pde median strip.
In a report prepared by the advocacy group, the initiative is pitched as part-solution to the housing crisis by creating substantial development opportunities, while also delivering a rail commute option to the area.
Former transport minister David Elliott and renowned “city shaper” Tim Williams, who was instrumental in delivering several ground-breaking mass-transit projects in the UK, are on board with the proposal.
But both warned bureaucrats will likely want to derail the plan.
“Treasury is the enemy of civilisation everywhere,” Dr Williams said, detailing frustrations he faced in Britain.
“Every one of the projects I put up as an exemplar (and eventually had approved in the UK), they opposed. They were wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong.”
Those projects included a $7bn Jubilee line extension on the London Underground – completed in 1999 – that drove regeneration of the city’s Docklands area.
Dr Williams worked for the Tim Blair and Boris Johnson governments, moved to Australia, was appointed Committee for Sydney CEO, and is now cities lead for international architecture firm Grimshaw.
He said the southeast light rail extension proposal was “not intimidating, and highly doable”.
“Sydney needs to maximise housing and jobs in well-connected, sustainable precincts, without raising congestion on the roads,” he added.
“Sometimes the things we want to do are crazy. You need tremendous eyesight to see them on the far horizon. But this is on our doorstep. It makes perfect sense.
“We are talking about a place transformation strategy … unlocking homes … no or minimal property acquisitions. This is opportunity hidden in plain sight.”
Mr Elliott said the southeast light rail extension, with an expected four-year timeline from approvals to completion, would require no digging or tunnelling and should be “relatively stress-free”.
“Treasury are always a problem,” he said. “But we can do this efficiently and effectively.
“I think Chris Minns has made a big mistake by putting the brakes on public works.
“He’s preoccupied with budget repair … and he wouldn’t have needed to do that if he hadn’t lifted the (NSW public sector wages) cap.”
Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou added: “This is about vision and not losing nerve. More than 50,000 homes … that is transformational.
“We need to progress, not pause. Don’t ignore opportunities of this scale.”
A government spokesman said: “The government welcomes all ideas to deliver more housing in Sydney.”