South West Rail Link opens to customers

NSW Premier and Minister for Western Sydney Mike Baird and Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian today officially opened the South West Rail Link – Sydney’s newest rail line running 11.4 kilometres from Leppington to Glenfield via Edmondson Park.

After nearly four years of hard work, the Premier has joined local families and community groups to catch one of the first new South West Rail Link train services.

“The communities of South Western Sydney have waited far too long for a modern, reliable train line, and today this government has delivered,” Mr Baird said.

“The South West Rail Link, including two brand new modern stations at Leppington and Edmondson Park, is now open to customers more than 1 year ahead of schedule and $300 million under budget.

“This rail line is a huge boost for Sydney’s fastest growing region and shows when we say we’ll deliver a major transport project – we deliver it.”

Ms Berejiklian said the South West Rail Link has been built to meet the needs of South Western Sydney today and well into the future, and planning work has already started to extend the rail line to Badgerys Creek airport.

“It’s not every day you open a new rail line - I want to thank the dedicated team of workers that made this project a reality,” she said.

“Air conditioned trains will run on the new line every 30 minutes from 5am to midnight, seven days a week, and will take less than 16 minutes to travel to Glenfield or Liverpool where customers can connect with the CBD, Parramatta and the airport.

“This major infrastructure project has already created about 3,000 jobs a year during the construction phase and now that it’s up and running, thousands more jobs and families are expected in the region.

“Whether it’s modern trains, Opal electronic ticketing, the North West Rail Link or light rail in Newcastle, Sydney and Parramatta, the NSW Government is building the vital public transport infrastructure our great city desperately needs.”

SOUTH WEST RAIL LINK FACTS

• The first track of the South West Rail Link was laid in 2011.
• Construction of Edmondson Park Station and Leppington Station started in March 2012 and was completed in September 2014.
• Glenfield Station was transformed with four new lifts and a new concourse in September 2012.
• A new train stabling facility at the end of the line at Rossmore was built.
• The Glenfield flyover was finished in June 2014. The flyover allows two trains to cross at the same time through the busy Glenfield Junction, delivering more reliable services for customers.
• 14 bridges were constructed as part of the project – all were completed by September 2014.
• 53,000 rail sleepers, 31 kilometers of track and 100,000 tonnes of ballast have been used (crushed rock that assists drainage and maintains stability of sleepers and rail).
• The South West Rail Link created around 3,000 jobs a year during construction.
• More than 7,300,000 hours have been worked on the project across 50 different trades.
• Final project cost of $1.8 billion is $300 million under the original budget of $2.1 billion.
• Timetable information for the South West Rail Link is now available at transportnsw.info or on real time apps. Twitter updates are also available by following @SWRailLink.