Category Archives: Sydney metro area

Whatever the NSW election result, metros are the winner

Posted on 23 March, 2023 by Alex

As I write this post on the eve of the 2023 NSW state election, the major parties are neck-and-neck in the opinion polls. I’m not going to attempt to pick the result but there is already one clear winner, at … Continue reading →

Posted in Airport, Growth, Infrastructure, metro, Planning, Population, Public Transport, Rail, Sydney Metro, Sydney metro area, Transport, Western Sydney | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sydney: why have one metro system when you can have two (or more)? Part 2

Posted on 1 February, 2023 by Alex

In the first post in this series I took a look at the significant differences between Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport (Metro WSA) which will connect the new airport to the Sydney Trains network at St Marys, and the combined … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, metro, Planning, Public Transport, Rail, Sydney Metro, Sydney metro area, Transport, Western Sydney | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sydney: why have one metro system when you can have two (or more)? Part 1

Posted on 14 January, 2023 by Alex

The second week of January 2023 featured extensive media coverage in the Sydney Morning Herald about the Sydney Metro. It’s unclear what triggered this, apart from the opening of the next stage of Metro City and Southwest from Chatswood to … Continue reading →

Posted in Airport, Bradfield, metro, Planning, Public Transport, Rail, Sydney Metro, Sydney metro area, Transport, Western Sydney | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Western Sydney and the City Deal: a precursor to metropolitan governance reform?

Posted on 6 June, 2022 by Alex

Recently, along with three other authors from Commonwealth countries, I was asked by the editors of the Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance to prepare a short “perspective” on issues and trends in metropolitan governance in response to a paper by … Continue reading →

Posted in Airport, Governance, Growth, Local Government, ROCs, Sydney metro area, Western Sydney | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sydney Metro West gets a mega CBD interchange and Star Casino hits the jackpot, but no southeast link

Posted on 4 July, 2021 by Alex

Two more pieces in the Sydney Metro West puzzle were revealed in the recent announcement by the NSW Government of the location of the remaining stations on the line – Pyrmont and Hunter Street. The announcement itself was not a … Continue reading →

Posted in metro, Planning, Public Transport, Rail, Sydney Metro, Sydney metro area, Transport, Western Sydney | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sydney Metro Observations

Posted on 6 June, 2019 by Alex

Last week I joined the thousands of people who tried out the new Sydney Metro Northwest. I was going to say half-million people, but the total patronage for the first week of operation of over 546,000 obviously includes return and … Continue reading →

Posted in metro, Public Transport, Rail, Sydney metro area, Transport, Western Sydney | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Update: Sydney West Metro station plans firm in NSW election refresh

Posted on 6 March, 2019 by Alex

It’s always easy to know when there’s an election on the way in Australia, especially in NSW, as all parties commit to new projects big and small. Top of the list are new infrastructure projects – hospitals, roads, and, increasingly, … Continue reading →

Posted in metro, Planning, Public Transport, Rail, Sydney metro area, Transport, Western Sydney | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sydney Metro West geotech digging reveals potential stations – including a new “super Central”

Posted on 26 February, 2019 by Alex

In 2018 I published a series of articles speculating on the likely route and station locations for the proposed Sydney West Metro. In the final article I concentrated on the CBD, commenting that geotechnical investigations for the project may provide … Continue reading →

Posted in metro, Public Transport, Rail, Sydney metro area, Transport, Western Sydney | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

NSW High-Speed Rail: following Victoria’s example?

Posted on 17 December, 2018 by Alex

The announcement by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian that the NSW government “would start work on a fast rail network in the next term of government” has already been criticised as being a repeat reading from a very hackneyed script. True to form, the announcement … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Population, Public Transport, Regions, Sydney metro area, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Bradfield, 75 years on – part 5: using Bradfield’s abandoned tunnels – trains, trams or tourism?

Posted on 3 October, 2018 by Alex

I had intended to write a postscript to my series on the ideas of the engineer John Bradfield and their impact on Sydney in commemoration of the recent 75th anniversary of his death on 23 September 1943, but the NSW … Continue reading →

Posted in Bradfield, Infrastructure, metro, Public Transport, Sydney metro area, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , | 20 Comments