Badgerys Creek airport great but rail the real game changer

For many years an international airport a Badgerys Creek was seen by supporters as a magic bullet for jobs in Western Sydney.

Critics, who were in the overwhelming majority up until fairly recently, saw an airport as the brutal catalyst for more air and noise pollution.

Ironically, now that such an airport is fast becoming a reality, it seems both camps were wrong.

There will be new jobs and many will be based in the so called aerotropolis adjacent to Western Sydney International Airport.

And while obviously the airport is a big factor, the real game changer will be a north south railway line running from St Marys in the north to Campbelltown in the south.

Initially, the rail line will be linked to Leppington in the south when the airport opens for business, and all the way to the western line of Penrith, Blacktown and Parramatta.

It is not an ideal approach but obviously building new rail is not cheap and the money could only stretch so far by 2026, the anticipated opening date of the airport.

Linking the airport line with Leppington is a clever move, because it means another public transport option to Sydney for both air travellers and local commuters.

It’s not as fast as it ought to be, but it will have to do in the first few years of the new airport.

However you picture it, though, a railway line from Penrith and Parramatta to the new airport and then on to Bringelly, Austral, Catherine Field, Oran Park, Smeaton Grange, Narellan, Camden and across to Macarthur station would provide a once in a generation boost that would transform then region.

Ironically nobody mentioned a railway line when the airport battle was raging.

It only became important once it was decided to go ahead with Badgerys Creek and now it is becoming crystal clear how rail will enrich us all.

What an exciting time to be living in Western Sydney and personally I can’ wait for the first time I am in a plane taking off from Badgerys Creek.