The federal and New South Wales governments will spend an extra $3.5billion to start building the Western Sydney Airport train line this year, creating 14,000 jobs.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday said the $11billion metro line would be complete and operational when the airport is opened in 2026.
Initial construction begins this year and the major works will start in 2021.
The metro line will run from St Marys train station to the airport’s north, via Luddenham and Orchard Hills.
Around the airport will be a metropolitan subregion known as the aerotropolis. Pictured: An architect’s impression of a building in the aerotropolis
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday said the $11billion metro line would be complete and operational when the airport is inaugurated in 2026
This is an artist’s impression of what the new metro line will look like when opened in 2026
The area around the airport will be called the Western Parkland City. Pictured: An artist’s impression
Initial construction on the airport begins this year and the major works will start in 2021. Pictured: An artist’s impression of the area around the airport
Commuters would then have to switch to the existing train network for onward travel to Parramatta or the Sydney CBD.
The federal and NSW governments will each tip in an extra $1.75 billion to bring the project foward, with Canberra taking up the cost burden in the early stages.
Mr Morrison said the government would continue looking to expedite infrastructure projects amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘This is how Australia makes its way back out of the COVID-19 crisis,’ he told reporters on Monday.
‘These are job-making investments – when I talk about a ‘JobMaker’ program, it’s through projects like this.’
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the project would create 14,000 jobs, which she said was ‘music to her ears’.
‘We know we have a job ahead of us of getting people into work, into sustainable jobs. Having those direct and indirect jobs is fantastic,’ she told reporters.
The construction of the airport at Badgerys Creek is projected to cost $5.3 billion.
The first stage began on 24 September 2018. The area around the airport is also being developed into a subregion known as an aerotropolis.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison greets NSW Minister for Transport and Roads Andrew Constance during a Western Sydney Airport Rail Link announcement
Machinery at work as Prime Minister Scott Morrison attends a Western Sydney Airport Rail Link announcement on June 1
Federal Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge said Western Sydney residents will reap the benefits of this investment well before the first train leaves the station.
‘This project will support 14,000 jobs, bringing new opportunities for the people of Western Sydney, closer to home.’
‘It represents an economic stimulus in the middle of Western Sydney, supporting jobs for electricians, carpenters, plumbers, tunnellers, surveyors, crane and forklift operators and truck drivers.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian are seen arriving for a press conference at the Western Sydney International Airport Experience Centre
NSW Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said supporting the airport and Aerotropolis is a key part of the Western Sydney City Deal, a 20-year agreement signed in March 2018 by the Commonwealth Government, NSW Government, and eight Western Sydney councils.
‘The Metro Western Sydney Airport project will be a game-changer for the region, providing the backbone for the economic and broader development,’ Mr Ayres said.
NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said the new line will service greater Western Sydney and the new Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport.
‘This new metro railway line will become the transport spine for the region, connecting travellers from the new airport to the rest of Sydney’s public transport system.’
Prime Minister Scott Morrison at a ceremony for the start of construction of the Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek in Sydney in 2018