Last night’s Federal Government budget has confirmed that a rail connection will be in place by the time the first aircraft takes off at Badgerys Creek Airport.
Included in Scott Morrison’s first budget was a commitment for $115 million to fund airport preparation work, including $26 million to develop a concept design for rail access.
The government says this will not only add value to the planned airport but also accelerate benefits to Western Sydney as a whole.
The rest of the money, $89 million, will go towards critical preparatory activities for the airport site.
The Western Sydney Airport Environmental Impact Statement and Airport Plan are both expected to be finalised in the coming months, following the review of nearly 5,000 public submissions.
It is anticipated that the proposed Western Sydney Airport will commence operations in the mid–2020s. The airport would be expected to handle around 10 million passengers around five years after it opens for business.
By that time the airport would provide nearly 9,000 direct jobs, and this would grow to more than 60,000 direct jobs by the early 2060s.
The budget also continued to fund the ongoing Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan, with $524.4 million to be provided in 2016–17 on several projects, including:
- The Northern Road upgrade
- M12 Motorway (M7 to the Northern Road)
- Bringelly Road upgrade
The upgrade of Narellan Road from four lanes to six lanes between Camden Valley Way and Blaxland Road was allocated $17.4 million.
Mr Morrison also announced a further $300 million allocation towards construction of WestConnex, as well as a concessional loan of $2 billion to accelerate the new M5 section.
It’s a shame some money wasn’t thrown at it 30yrs ago, maybe there would be some rail corridors to actually build in on now !!
$ for concept design for rail line is not commitment trains will run when #badgeryscreekairport opens. 1 of many steps needed.