Airport train links: MP checks out how they do it in London and New York

Greg Warren, the Campbelltown State MP, admits he’s a big fan of public transport, especially trains.

“I almost always catch a train,’’ he told me when we sat down to discuss his parliamentary trip overseas to study transport connectivity to major airports in the UK, USA and Canada.

He’s already over there and last night he told me that he’s been catching public transport wherever he went in London.

“Just arrived in Canada from London where tomorrow vice-president of SkyTrain operations Mike Richard will meet with me,’’ Mr Warren texted at 2.30am from Vancouver.

“Mr Richard will then take me on a tour of the Canada Line operations and maintenance facility and selected stations along the Canada Line.’’

Twenty four hours later he will be in Toronto where he will be given a briefing from a number of Ministry of Transportation officials, including the directors of transit policy and Regional Planning, the manager of Customer Experience.

He will also take in a tour of Union Station.

Before leaving for overseas, Mr Warren told me he had one main question to ask everyone he met at the various airports in London, Toronto, Vancouver and New York.

[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“Well, I have many questions, but the most important one is going to be: if you could do it again, what would you do differently.[/social_quote]

“So we can learn from others’ mistakes and avoid them for Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek,’’ he said.

Once he completes the study trip, Mr Warren will prepare a report and submit it to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).

The report will be public for anyone who wants to have a look at it.

The CPA nominated Mr Warren for the study tour and he accepted.

“As a legislator it’s important to have a broad understanding of a range of topics, and with the Badgery’s Creek airport opening in less than a decade the importance of transport connectivity throughout our region is paramount,’’ he said.

“The opportunity to visit other cities and see what they’ve done, what’s worked and what hasn’t worked will be incredibly valuable and will benefit the policy discussion here in South West Sydney.

“The CPA nominate people, for whatever reason, to do research and study tours, and I thought I’d take the opportunity to see what other cities have done in terms of their transport connections to their airports.’’

Mr Warren said there’s CPA trip guidelines and rules such as having to visit at least one Commonwealth country and he’s going to two, UK and Canada.

But he said he was also looking forward to seeing New York’s second tier airport at Newark and checking out the transport connections available.

Mr Warren says a railway link to Badgerys Creek may be needed for more reasons than one.

“Not for political reasons, more for pragmatic considerations, I welcome Bill Shorten’s commitment to building heavy rail from Campbelltown to St Marys,’’ he says.

“From what we do know the western railway line from Central to St Marys is stretched to capacity and can’t take any more increases in commuter patronage.

“Which validates the need to extend the South West rail link to the new airport at Badgerys Creek.

“And there’s another reason.

“If the airport was out there on its own, you could justify not putting in a railway link straight away, but when you take into account the enormous amount of residential growth taking place around it, that alone is reason to invest in heavy rail to the new airport when it starts operating.

[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“It just makes sense to build a rail line, with the airport in the middle of it, between the south west and the northwest of Sydney.[/social_quote]

“Plus there’s the benefit of freeing up roads as people get on trains at Campbelltown to get to work in Epping or wherever in the north west.

“So it actually needs to happen.’’

Mr Warren says he can’t understand why the current minister responsible for the new airport “flip-flops’’ on the need for a railway connection.

“Remember that Western Sydney Airport has been talked about since Gough Whitlam was Prime Minister [1972-75].

“Yet all these years later what we have is a lot of talk but very little action.’’