CBD Metro
Encyclopedia
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
announced on 23 October 2008. It was to be undertaken by the NSW State Government
Government of New South Wales
The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
and was placed on a short-list of projects to be funded by Infrastructure Australia's Building Australia Fund in December 2008. The CBD Metro was designed to cater to the "CBD Growth Centre" and was identified as the enabling "central spine" to a proposed larger metro system for Sydney, including extensions to the west
West Metro
West Metro was a proposed metro line running from the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia to the Sydney CBD. It was to be undertaken by the NSW State Government. The concept was for the metro line to link Parramatta with the Sydney CBD within 25 minutes of travel time...
and possibly the north-west
North West Metro
North West Metro was a proposal for a rail link from the north west suburbs of Sydney, Australia to the Sydney CBD. It would have connected Rouse Hill with Epping and the Sydney CBD...
.
The CBD Metro would have consisted of a 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) track railway running from Rozelle and Pyrmont to connect with Wynyard, Town Hall and Central. The project would have included a train stabling facility to the west of the new Pyrmont station. The new Euro-style metro was proposed to offer a rail service of one train every four to five minutes (three minutes during peak hours). It would have run on conventional standard gauge track, similar to the existing CityRail
CityRail
CityRail is an operating brand of RailCorp, a corporation owned by the state government of New South Wales, Australia. It is responsible for providing commuter rail services, and some coach services, in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest cities of New South Wales. It is...
network, but would have operated without drivers. It was to run single deck rolling stock along the route of the proposed CBD Metro.
The CBD Metro was cancelled on 21 February 2010, by NSW Premier Kristina Kenneally as part of the Metropolitan Transport Plan: Connecting the City of Cities, 2010. The plan announced the CBD Relief Line
CBD Relief Line
The CBD Relief Line was a proposed underground railway line through the Sydney central business district. The line was intended to augment the existing city underground network and ease congestion at some of the city's busiest stations...
, a heavy rail line that essentially replaces the CBD Metro.
Proposed route
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The final proposal revealed had the CBD Metro running from Rozelle to Central station
Central railway station, Sydney
Central Railway Station, the largest railway station in Australia, is at the southern end of the Sydney CBD. It services almost all the lines on the CityRail network, and is the major terminus for interurban and interstate rail services...
, connecting with the proposed West Metro
West Metro
West Metro was a proposed metro line running from the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia to the Sydney CBD. It was to be undertaken by the NSW State Government. The concept was for the metro line to link Parramatta with the Sydney CBD within 25 minutes of travel time...
at Central station
Central railway station, Sydney
Central Railway Station, the largest railway station in Australia, is at the southern end of the Sydney CBD. It services almost all the lines on the CityRail network, and is the major terminus for interurban and interstate rail services...
. The new metro stations would have provided connections with existing CityRail
CityRail
CityRail is an operating brand of RailCorp, a corporation owned by the state government of New South Wales, Australia. It is responsible for providing commuter rail services, and some coach services, in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest cities of New South Wales. It is...
network at Wynyard, Martin Place, Town Hall, and Central stations.
The proposed route would have included 6 new metro station
Metro station
A metro station or subway station is a railway station for a rapid transit system, often known by names such as "metro", "underground" and "subway". It is often underground or elevated. At crossings of metro lines, they are multi-level....
s:
- RozelleRozelle, New South WalesRozelle is a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 4 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....
- This station was to be located near Darling Street at Victoria Road, and was controversial whithin the local community. - PyrmontPyrmont, New South WalesPyrmont is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Pyrmont is located 2 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney...
- This station was to be located in the Union Square area with a number of heritage buildings to be demolished. - Barangaroo-WynyardWynyard railway station, SydneyWynyard is a major underground CityRail station in the central business district of Sydney, Australia, 2.05 km from Central. Wynyard averages 108000 passenger movements per day Monday to Friday.-History:The station opened on 28 February 1932...
- This station was proposed to serve the Barangaroo development area with connections to the Wynyard Cityrail station. - Martin Place
- Town Hall Square
- CentralCentral railway station, SydneyCentral Railway Station, the largest railway station in Australia, is at the southern end of the Sydney CBD. It services almost all the lines on the CityRail network, and is the major terminus for interurban and interstate rail services...
Other proposed extensions
According to Sydney Metro Authority's publications, the CBD Metro was proposed to connect with the West MetroWest Metro
West Metro was a proposed metro line running from the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia to the Sydney CBD. It was to be undertaken by the NSW State Government. The concept was for the metro line to link Parramatta with the Sydney CBD within 25 minutes of travel time...
from Central
Central railway station, Sydney
Central Railway Station, the largest railway station in Australia, is at the southern end of the Sydney CBD. It services almost all the lines on the CityRail network, and is the major terminus for interurban and interstate rail services...
to Westmead via Leichhardt
Leichhardt, New South Wales
Leichhardt is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. Leichhardt is located 5 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt...
. Considerations were also taken to extend the CBD Metro to Epping via Macquarie Park partly along the alignment of the (previously) cancelled North West Metro
North West Metro
North West Metro was a proposal for a rail link from the north west suburbs of Sydney, Australia to the Sydney CBD. It would have connected Rouse Hill with Epping and the Sydney CBD...
. Both extensions would have formed part of the proposed City West Line (Metro Line 1). However, as the CBD Metro has been scrapped, it is unlikely that any other metros will be considered in the near future.
Criticism
CityRail
CityRail is an operating brand of RailCorp, a corporation owned by the state government of New South Wales, Australia. It is responsible for providing commuter rail services, and some coach services, in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest cities of New South Wales. It is...
network to ease congestion and allow growth into the future. The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
reported that Transport Minister David Campbell had admitted the CBD Metro would run up to 87% empty during peak hour on its opening in 2015 and up to 76% empty in 2031. During peak hour, the CBD Metro is projected to carry 4,000 - 5,500 passengers per hour in 2015 and 7,250 passengers per hour in 2031 out of a full capacity of 30,000 passengers per hour. The dumped, alternative proposal for a second heavy rail harbour crossing running between Redfern and Chatswood would have incurred a similar cost but was projected to carry 16,000 passengers per hour, more than four times the CBD metro.
Formerly starting the proposal for a CBD Metro in early 2009, the NSW Labor Government applied for environmental assessment study with the NSW Department Of Planning. This was put on public display during September 2009. During this time members of the public and Government Departments were invited to comment and make submissions.
Unpopular across the community, the CBD Metro proposal has come into much criticism both in logistics and the proposed cost. It was discovered after the close of submissions, that the original 2 billion dollar cost had blown out to 7 billion dollars, due to problems with construction. Also it was made public that two Councils, City Of Sydney and Leichhardt Municipal Council, had written submissions fiercely critical of the CBD Metro proposal.
As of December 2009, the CBD Metro project again caused problems for the NSW Labor Government, after the Sydney Metro Authority indicated it would forcefully resume properties despite having no approval from the NSW Department Of Planning. It is expected that the iconic Woolworths Building in Park Street, would have also fallen victim and be forced to close.