Secret report reveals multibillion-dollar cost of metro extensions in Sydney’s east and west (2024)

An extra train station at Rosehill racecourse for the Metro West rail line will cost the state government up to $2.2 billion, according to a highly confidential review into Sydney’s mega rail projects which warns about the contamination risk in the area near Parramatta.

Weeks after a metro line under central Sydney was opened, the review also reveals the staggering cost of extending metro lines in western Sydney and to the city’s east, estimating it will cost about $9.3 billion to build a line and four stations between St Marys and Schofields via Marsden Park.

The cost of a southern extension of the under-construction Western Sydney Airport metro line from the new city of Bradfield to Oran Park is put at $5.1 billion. The estimate is based on building three stations.

The confidential report forecasts the bill for an eight-kilometre extension of Metro West from Hunter Street in the CBD to Zetland – if indeed it is one day built – at between $6.9 billion and $9.3 billion, depending on whether there were one or two intermediate stations.

The highly sensitive details are contained in a 76-page report from the final review led by senior federal bureaucrat Mike Mrdak. The government released only six pages of the final review last December, redacting many of the most sensitive elements such as costings.

Premier Chris Minns cast doubt over the $25 billion Metro West line last year before later committing to proceeding with the mega project.

The review reveals a six-month delay to the Metro West project to enable a re-profiling of funding last year to support the conversion of the troubled Bankstown line as part of the M1 line cost $364 million.

It also found that Rosehill and Silverwater were the only two “credible (albeit complex and costly) opportunities” to add stations on the Metro West line.

“Rosehill also has substantial challenges with contamination. Significant construction complexities would likely be encountered to insert a station at Rosehill,” it warns.

Loading

It puts the cost of “safeguarding” Rosehill for a future station at up to $1.4 billion, while Silverwater is estimated at up to $750 million.

The prospect of a station at Rosehill racecourse is dependent on the members of the Australian Turf Club, which owns the track, voting later this year on a controversial move to sell it to the government to realise plans to create a “megacity” of 25,000 new homes.

If the turf club opts to sell the site and the government proceeds with a station at Rosehill, the review found that it would cost between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.

The costings of extensions or extra stations contained in the report are based on 2023 dollars.

The opening of the city section of the major M1 line under Sydney Harbour between Chatswood and Sydenham last month has triggered renewed interest in metro rail extensions.

Transport for NSW’s longer-term strategy has previously identified the extension of Metro West eastwards from the CBD towards Randwick and La Perouse as the next stage of creating a transport spine for the city.

The review says an initial stage to Zetland would likely consist of up to three stations, including an extra one for the Metro West line in the CBD which would “better balance demand across multiple Sydney CBD stations”.

While the Minns government has not committed to any of the extensions, it is working on a business case for a metro extension between St Marys and Tallawong, where it would connect to the existing M1 metro line.

In the lead-up to the state election early last year, Labor also pledged to work on business cases for an extension of the airport metro line from Bradfield to Macarthur, and northwards from St Marys to Tallawong.

Loading

However, it ditched the previous Perrottet government’s plans to proceed with business cases to connect the new airport line to a Metro West station at Westmead, or an extension of the problem-plagued Metro Southwest from Bankstown to Glenfield.

Metro West is due to be completed by 2032 and will form the fourth stage of Sydney’s metro network. The main section of the second stage – now known as the M1 line – under the harbour and central city between Chatswood and Sydenham opened on August 19, seven years after construction started.

The new $11 billion line to Western Sydney Airport is due to be completed in late 2026.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.