NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell and Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian have announced the appointment of a project team to fast-track work on Sydney’s North West Rail Link.

 

The team will be headed by Rod Staples, the current  Deputy Director General Transport Infrastructure at the Department of Transport and former chief executive of the CBD Metro, which was scrapped by the Labor government last year.

 

The North West Rail Link, also promised by the former Labor government, was a key Coalition election promise.

 

Mr O’Farrell said the project team had been directed to:

  • Determine the planning approvals needed to proceed with the link;
  • Put together a full costing of the rail link;
  • Begin planning on the best way to integrate trains on the North West rail link with the rest of the rail network; and,
  • Open discussions with communities and stakeholders along the route.

 

Ms Berejiklian said geotechnical work would begin this year, and the public would know the cost and the route of the line before the end of the year. The line will run from Epping to Rouse Hill via Castle Hill, some 23 kilometres. It will serve to connect a population of 360,000 to the CBD, expected to grow to 485,000 by 2021