NSW fast-tracks plan for rail links

"The Government is looking over the next few months at the options to be pursued here," NSW Co-ordinator General David Richmond said at a property industry conference this morning.

Professor Richmond said work was continuing on upgrading the railway network, via the clearways project, as well as increasing the level and quality of rolling stock used on the passenger network, with the planning focus now on enlarging the network.

"The next stage is investing in enhancing the system, and the growth in the north-west and the south-west. It is advancing at the appropriate speed, of planning and land acquisition.

"The Government is looking over the next few months at the options to be pursued here," he said, referring to the funding plans.

The State Government has flagged that it wants to tap private investors to finance the new suburban links in the city's north-west and south-west, which will also include a new tunnel linking Chatswood and Redfern, via North Sydney.

Both links are to be in operation within a decade.

Longer term is the plan to launch a new metro train system, which will need Federal Government assistance to advance, he said.

"What's next is the concept of metro lines, independent of the existing network," he said.

The idea here is a faster service using smaller tunnels, with mostly standing passengers typically travelling shorter distances.

"It is much easier to talk about than do and it can only happen with federal assistance," he said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/nsw-fasttracks-plan-for-rail-links/2007/08/22/1187462312437.html