The SMH has an
"exclusive" story on Sydney West Metro, but was light on detail, apart from speculating it could replace parts of the Parramatta to Strathfield light rail network.
Below is one proposal that gives more "inside" detail on how one proposed West Metro line would work (effectively directly replacing the proposed Parramatta light rail to Strathfield). This proposal has gone through a few iterations over the past few months, possibly due to feedback given to the private consortium by TfNSW. The drawings below were taken from the February 2016 iteration, but there have been some subsequent refinements (such as an extension to Maroubra and deletion of the station at North Strathfield).
It is definitely pleasing to see the involvement of land owners and property companies becoming involved in transport planning. The old "transport first" approach relies too much on Government capital grants and operational subsidies to be viable - as user fares cover only a minority of operating costs - let alone funding capital costs. The result is that many worthwhile transport projects can't be funded. It also results in lack of integration between stations and surrounding retail/commercial uses (resulting in dark, poor lit, inactive stations outside of peak hours). In contrast, land owner led transport planning can create stations with better pedestrian access and more retail and commercial activation and allows the matching of funding with more intensive land use.
However, one controversy is whether this West Metro proposal would undermine the business case for a light rail line also. Part 2 of this thread will demonstrate this is not the case by looking into an alternative metro alignment which will allow light rail and metro to co-exist in the same corridor (but with complementary value capture catchments).
Note: images below are an iconic interpretation of the West Metro Link only.
For actual maps sourced from the WestLink private consortium,
go to City of Parramatta website at this link:
