A roughly 80km new metro line could eventually run from Epping to Schofields via Parramatta, Liverpool, the new Western Sydney Airport, and St Marys based on government plans announced as part of last month’s Commonwealth budget. Such a line, if built as suggested, would involve the conversion of the existing T5 Cumberland Line between Leppington and Merrylands to metro, plus extensions at either end from Leppington to the future Sydney Metro Greater Western Sydney at Bradfield in the South and from Merrylands to Epping via Parramatta in the North.
These plans are based on part of the budget which Federal Urban Infrastructure and Cities Minister Paul Fletcher described as the Commonwealth Government providing “$77.5 million for a business case for Stage 2 of the Sydney Metro – WSA line from Bradfield to Glenfield, via Leppington, which will connect the new $5.3 billion Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport when it opens”.
An extension from Leppington to Bradfield has been mooted for quite some time. The March 2018 Western Sydney Rail Needs Scoping Study stated “An extension of the existing line from Leppington to the Badgerys Creek Aerotropolis interchange, connecting with the North-South Link and East-West Link, would provide extra connectivity across the south-west. This South West Link from Leppington to the Badgerys Creek Aerotropolis interchange would cost up to $2 billion (2017 dollars)”. This was reinforced by the November 2020 Future Transport Strategy 2056 report, which illustrated (below) a future rail line incorporating the extension to Bradfield (then known as the Aerotropolis Core), but also a Northern extension to Epping via Greater Parramatta.
However, there were no hints at the time as to whether this would be an extension of the Sydney Trains network, or a conversion to Sydney Metro as happened with the Epping to Chatswood or Bankstown Lines.
Instead, it now appears as though this could initially be a metro line from St Marys to Glenfield, possibly within the next two decades. An extension from St Marys to Schofields via Marsden Park has been mooted for a number of years already. Meanwhile, conversion of the T5 Cumberland Line and extension to Epping requires some speculation.
One possible scenario could involve extending the current metro line from Bankstown to Liverpool then a short underground extension from Merrylands to Parramatta. This would provide interchange options for passengers at Glenfield, Liverpool, and Parramatta (as well as St Marys and Schofields). A simultaneous construction of an additional track between Cabramatta and Liverpool would allow T3 trains from Lidcombe to also continue through to Liverpool. The Parramatta terminus could then be extended further to Epping to complete the line. Were this to happen, then Sydney Metro West could feasibly also be extended from Bradfield South to Macarthur, originally planned as the Southern extension for the metro from St Marys to Bradfield.
An 80km metro line from Epping to Schofields would be long, but roughly the same distance as a currently planned metro line from Schofields to Liverpool (approximately 75km). It would also be a similar distance to a metro line from Macarthur to La Perouse (approximately 80km), which could be on the cards if such plans do become a reality.
However as stated earlier, at this stage this is purely speculation based on a single government announcement providing funding for a business case. In addition, with state and federal elections set to occur in the next 12 months and two changes of government being a real possibility, there remains the strong chance that this business case gets thrown in the bin, like many before it.
Transport Sydney 
It is generally agreed that Australia has to bring back manufacturing. That requires rail freight lines, not metros and definitely not in narrow tunnels. We also need cargo trams. Given the high oil prices and the permanent impact of the Ukraine war on Russian oil supplies (one of the 3 largest oil producers) the 2nd Sydney airport and with it the aerotropolis will not be viable. The whole transport policy is wrong
The NSW Government needs to adopt the holistic, integrated, 100-year transport plan for NSW. The priorities could then be worked out accurately. Suggesting short-term, unconnected, isolated projects in the state, without considering all the alternatives, is still not working.
It is great to see Western Sydney as the focus for development, but the proposals seem to make even worse the decisions to stop the Eastern Suburbs line at Bondi Junction and the Parramatta metro at Hunter Street (with only one poorly connected station in the CBD). They look less like metros and more like north American commuter railways.
Still a complete mystery why not build the SW line one more stop to the airport terminal to get cheap and easy rail access to the airport from day 1, AND an airport to airport rail link. It seems to be deliberately setting up to fail.
The problem with linking the North-South metro line from St Marys to Bradfield (Aerotropolis) directly with a converted SWRL is that the North-South Line is being designed for 4 car trains only. An extended SWRL and South Line metro conversion to Epping via Parramatta will more likely require 8 car metro trains, so through running wouldn’t be feasible. I suspect that they will adhere to the original plan for a continuous North-South metro line from Schofields to Macarthur via WSA and the terminus for the SWRL metro extension will remain at Bradfield. That still leaves open the option of directly connecting with a future Metro West extension from Westmead, which could allow through running. It remains to be seen if the business case for the SWRL conversion stacks up, having regard to other alternatives and how it impacts on the broader rail network.
Until such time as airlines decide how they are going to split flights between KSA and WSA (and this will no doubt constantly change), it is difficult to foresee the amount of inter-terminal transport required. It would be a very small % of the total passenger throughput.
Most passengers will opt for flights most convenient to their “home base” and travel direct to/from the respective terminal. Even the planned metros would only account for part of the passenger loads, as there will be options for private cars, buses, taxis, ubers, limos, etc as already happens at KSA.
If the current offering of changing trains at Bradfield and Glenfield is too onerous, there is the opportunity to run (electric) shuttle buses between the two terminals on an uninterrupted motorway network.
Stage 1 of the NSW Fast Train Network is the priority for Sydney and NSW.. This 255km initial stage links Macarthur, Bathurst, Tuggerah and Blacktown stations and includes the Blue Mountains Vehicle Shuttle.
@Bob Masters, please explain how these locations would link up. It doesn’t make sense. What’s the Blue Mountains Vehicle Shuttle?
There is only going to be one railway/metro line from Liverpool/Macarthur area to Badgerys Creek. The best & cheapest option here would be to extend St Mary’s metro line to Leppington & continue onto Glenfield where it would terminate & interchange with the Sydney train network. Perhaps continuing onto Liverpool, if conversion of that railway was viable.
@Anthony, the problem with the current proposal is the government’s obsession for ideological reasons to insist that any new lines or extensions of existing lines must only be incompatible metro, even when it can be legitimately demonstrated that extensions of the existing network in some circumstances is a better option, having regard to how it impacts on the broader rail network, which will remain the dominant system for decades to come. Extension of the SWRL to at least the Airport Terminal is one of those instances.
It is still unclear whether the extension and conversion of the SWRL from Bradfield to Glenfield will be a direct extension of the St Marys metro line, or a separate line as initially proposed. It seems like planning on the run, when the St Marys link was supposed to continue to Macarthur, with separate terminating platforms at Bradfield for the Metro West extension from Westmead and the existing SWRL from Leppington. If it is a direct extension of the St Marys link, then it’s an admission that they got that wrong as the first priority, when anyone with half a brain could see that extending the SWRL as part of the existing Sydney Trains network, which was acknowledged in the new airport EIS, should have taken priority But now the plan creates even more issues for the Sydney Trains network.
IMO, what is purported to be an eventual extension of the metro conversion from Glenfield to Epping via Liverpool and Parramatta, the new Cumberland Line, is problematic in that it compromises existing services with direct connections with the Sydney CBD, which in spite of the propaganda to the contrary, will remain the dominant destination for most travellers. SWRL travellers and South Line travellers between Cabramatta and Granville will no longer have a direct connection with the CBD or inner west destinations and will be forced to interchange at either Glenfield, Liverpool or Parramatta.
After extensive consultation with communities west of Bankstown, Transport for NSW acknowledged that over 90% of travellers were destined for the Sydney CBD and the overwhelming preference was to restore the direct Liverpool via Regents Park and Inner West service, rather than be forced to interchange to the metro at Bankstown. TfNSW consequently agreed to reinstate the Liverpool via Regents Park service after the Bankstown metro line opens and cancel the direct Liverpool to Bankstown service altogether. A shuttle service from Lidcombe to Bankstown would be introduced. So much for feeding commuters from west of Bankstown into the metro.
I don’t expect that T2 SWRL and Liverpool via Granville commuters would react any differently if they knew what is in store for them. In saying that, the ultimate goal should be to run all SWRL services, including from the new airport, direct to the CBD via the East Hills Line, which is more direct and faster. The LNP government, if it survives the next State Election, should wake up and realise that commuters want to maintain a direct link with the CBD which they have enjoyed for over a century and a half, and won’t take too kindly to being forced to interchange, whether they get a seat or not. It’s a flawed strategy which will inevitably fail.
Before metro and even the new airport came onto the agenda, the long term plan for extension of the SWRL from Leppington, was to extend to St Marys via Bringelly, with a branch to the south west to Oran Park and Narellan, which could obviously be extended to Macarthur and Campbeltown. This would have provided direct links with the CBD via the East Hills Line, which allows for express services, It would also have allowed for an enhanced Cumberland Line service in a continuous loop via the new airport site, Glenfield, Liverpool, Parramatta, Blacktown and St Marys. That prospect has now been butchered.
Questions based on internet search.
At Casula where four tracks converge into two, would duplication of two tracks be required to enable a rapid metro conversion?
At Cabramatta, would additional tracks and platforms be required to separate rapid metro from heavy rail/freight trains?
How would the conversion of Leppington to Merrylands to rapid metro resolve the issue where the Bankstown end of Punchbowl metro heads north even though the internet says it is supposed to go to Liverpool as in south, and the Bankstown end of Yagoona heavy rail heads south even though the internet says in relations to Kogarah to Parramatta it supposed to go north?
In connecting to Epping, would there be a station that is a short bus journey from both Granville and Harris Park, a station connecting with a light rail stop, and a few stations to parallel with the existing rapid metro line?
Thanks and happy planning
There are only 2 tracks for regular passenger trains at Casula; there is also a dedicated freight-only line which passes through Cabramatta to Enfield.
Apart from the Leppington to Glenfield branch being converted to metro to service the airport, anything else is really speculation at this time.
In response to @Matthew, I agree with @Brian that any further amplification and/or conversion of the South Line to metro from Glenfield to Merrylands/Parramatta is purely speculative at this stage, notwithstanding a longer term proposal to establish a new metro line from the Aerotropolis (Bradfield) to Epping via Glenfield, Liverpool and Parramatta.
Infrastructure Australia has approved funding for preparation of a business case for the extension and conversion of the SWRL from Bradfield to Glenfield to metro, but beyond that there is nothing concrete, other than the longer term plan, which of course can change.
The new Federal Labor government is revamping Infrastructure Australia to give it more independence from government and there’s no guarantee that a business case for conversion of the SWRL would have a positive outcome, taking into consideration the impact it would have on the existing network. Infrastructure Australia was scathing of the first stage from St Marys to the Aerotropolis, but its assessment was completely ignored by the then Federal and current State governments.
Whether the South Line and Old South Line north of Glenfield would be converted to metro or additional tracks added remains to be seen, but it could be problematic as it would still have to also cater for freight for the foreseeable future. More than likely, if a metro conversion proceeds, passengers at stations between Cabramatta and Granville would no longer have a direct service to the CBD and would have to interchange at Parramatta. Good luck with that. I’d say that in such a scenario, it would be doubtful if there would be another station between Merrylands and Parramatta.
On the Bankstown Line, there is a proposal to extend the metro on a more direct route to Liverpool as a future project and it has been confirmed that after the metro opens, the Liverpool via Regents Park service to the CBD will be restored and a shuttle service will operate between Lidcombe and Bankstown. There will no longer be a direct service from Liverpool to Bankstown on the existing network and interchange would be required at Regents Park.
The proposed Kogarah to Parramatta metro line is just a line on the map at this stage and I doubt if any detailed planning has been undertaken..