Transport for NSW has refuted claims that changes to the rail line between Wollongong and Sydney are linked to plans to privatise the line.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Under a project known as SmartRail, Transport for NSW plans to separate the running of the T4 Illawarra line from the rest of Sydney’s suburban rail system.
The South Coast line effectively becomes the T4 line at Helensburgh.
Decoupling the T4 line from the Sydney network would make it easier to privatise the line to Wollongong.
Handing the line to a private operator has long been a goal of transport bureaucrats, with the line already operating relatively independently from the rest of Sydney’s complicated rail system.
READ MORE: No plans to sell off South Coast rail line
However, a Transport for NSW spokesman said that wasn’t on the agenda.
“There are no plans to privatise the existing heavy rail network and all existing lines will continue to be operated by Sydney Trains,” the spokesman said.
Peak advisory body Infrastructure NSW this month released its State Infrastructure Strategy 2018-2038, which makes recommendations to government in areas including transport, energy, water and housing.
The strategy said the SmartRail program was “a series of network-wide investments that will deliver additional capacity, reduce the complexity of rail operations and better connect the network”.
The Transport for NSW spokesman said it was “investigating options for road and transport upgrades to the Illawarra and South Coast”.
“Future rail initiatives are likely to involve significant investment in new services, advanced signalling, infrastructure upgrades and additional fleet,” the Transport for NSW spokesman said.
“Upgrades to help parts of the network operate more independently are about improving capacity, frequency and reliability.”
The State Infrastructure Strategy said the first stage would involve capacity upgrades to the T4 Illawarra line, and the second would involve more upgrades and the introduction of a new intercity fleet of trains.
The third would include “deploying automation and providing the transformative programs needed to separate inner urban and intercity services on the T1 Western and Northern line and the T4 Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra line.”
The three stages “should be delivered over the next 10 years”, according to the infrastructure strategy.
“SmartRail will allow the independent operation of rail lines across the system, improving the capacity, frequency and reliability of the network and permitting the conversion of lines to provide high-frequency all-day services in the future, with the T4 Illawarra Line as the top priority for transformation,” the strategy says.
The strategy recommended that Transport for NSW complete business cases for Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the SmartRail program by the end of 2018 and 2019 respectively.
The State Infrastructure Strategy also said the state government needed to address the conflict between passenger and freight services on the rail line in and out of the Illawarra.
“Forecasts suggest that, by around 2030, freight movements will be displaced entirely from the rail network between Sydney and the Illawarra-Shoalhaven to make way for passenger services,” the strategy stated.
“It is strategically critical to maintain long-term rail freight connectivity between Sydney and the Illawarra-Shoalhaven.”
Part of the solution would be the long-awaited Maldon-Dombarton rail line, which would substantially improve freight travel times.
“Infrastructure NSW suggests that in the next five to 10 years, Transport for NSW should prepare an updated business case for the project,” the strategy said.
The business case should canvass the possibility of a direct passenger rail connection between the Illawarra and western Sydney, the strategy noted.
Other transport improvements featured in the strategy include upgrades to Picton and Appin roads, improvements to the Hume Motorway and the Princes Motorway between Picton Road and Bulli Tops.