Work has officially started on the Sydney Metro West mega project, which will create tens of thousands of jobs and transform Greater Sydney for generations to come.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Treasurer Dominic Perrottet and Minister for Transport Andrew Constance officially marked the start of work at The Bays Station site, which is being prepared for the arrival of tunnel boring machines.
“Sydney Metro West is a life changing mega project which will transform how we get around Sydney and ensure we have the right transport in place to accommodate the city’s growth,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“This project will help cut crowding on three major train lines and take tens of thousands of cars off the roads every day.
“The NSW Government is continuing to invest record amounts in public transport projects, like Metro West, because we know improving transport makes a real difference to people’s lives, while also providing much needed local jobs.”
Mr Perrottet said the project will create more than 10,000 direct new jobs and around 70,000 indirect jobs, delivering a boost to the local economy.
“Investing in crucial job-creating infrastructure projects is a key focus of this year’s State Budget,” Mr Perrottet said.
“The NSW Government is investing tens of billions of dollars into delivering a new Metro network to connect Greater Sydney, including $2.1 billion in 2020-21 to get the construction of Sydney Metro West underway,” Mr Perrottet said.
Mr Constance said the city-shaping project will double rail capacity between Greater Parramatta and the Sydney CBD.
“Sydney Metro West will deliver new fully accessible stations at Westmead, Parramatta, Sydney Olympic Park, North Strathfield, Burwood North, Five Dock, The Bays and the Sydney CBD,” Mr Constance said.
“This once in a century infrastructure investment will have a target travel time of about 20 minutes between Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, link new communities to rail services and support employment growth and housing supply.”
The road works at The Bays, assessed and approved earlier this year, will allow the first of four mega tunnel boring machines to be in the ground before the end of 2022.
Sydney Metro is continuing to work through the shortlist process to appoint a consortia to deliver the first tunnelling package, the Central Tunnelling Package, which includes 11 kilometres of twin tunnels from The Bays to Sydney Olympic Park.
Due to the scale of this city-shaping mega project, the tunnelling and excavation works have been separated into geographically-specific contract packages between Westmead and the Sydney CBD.
The first tunnelling contract is expected to be awarded by the middle of 2021.
