Sydney Metro (2008 proposal)

Sydney Metro (2008 proposal)
Paris Métro Line 14 was cited as a model for the project
Overview
Type	Rapid transit network
System	Sydney Metro
Status	Withdrawn proposal
Locale	Sydney, Australia
Termini	Central Rouse Hill Westmead
Stations	34 announced
Services	3 announced
Operation
Owner	Sydney Metro Authority
Operator(s)	Keolis consortium; or Serco consortium
Character	Underground
Depot(s)	Rozelle (proposed)
Events
Metro Link announced	18 March 2008
Sydney Metro announced	October 2008
Proposal withdrawn	February 2010
Technical
Line length	63 km announced
Track gauge	Standard gauge

Sydney Metro was a proposed rapid transit railway network in Sydney, Australia, intended to connect the central business district (CBD) with Rouse Hill, Westmead, Malabar and the lower North Shore. Initially proposed in 2008 as ‘Metro Link’, the plan was modified and renamed later that year and – after half a billion dollars was spent on planning, property acquisitions and a tender process – finally cancelled in 2010.

The fate of the initial Metro proposal was tied to the fate of a plan to privatise much of the then state-owned electricity sector, a plan which would have released tens of billions of dollars in capital for investment in new infrastructure. When the privatisation plan was dramatically scaled back under pressure from the union movement, the Metro proposal was reduced to a nine-kilometre shuttle between the CBD and the inner-western suburb of Rozelle, raising questions about the project’s value for money.

The cycle of announcement, re-announcement and cancellation of rail projects was a familiar pattern under the Labor government that ruled New South Wales between 1995 and 2011. The short life of the Sydney Metro proposal was a significant contributing factor to Labor’s rout at the 2011 state election.

Although Labor's Sydney Metro proposals were not revived, an alternative rapid transit system was proposed by the Liberal/Nationals government elected in 2011. Construction of this scheme, also known as Sydney Metro, began in 2013.

Although Sydney Metro would have been the first rapid transit system to be built in Australia – and one of only a handful in the Southern Hemisphere – the idea was not new. John Bradfield, the Chief Engineer who planned the electrification of the Sydney rail network and construction of the City Underground, was heavily influenced by his observations of the New York City Subway and referred to aspects of his scheme as “rapid transit”.