Looking for a solution to the "tangled" South Coast line was part of a $42 million funding promise announced by Labor leader Chris Minns in Wollongong on Friday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
As well as $10 million for what is tagged a "rail resilience study", there is also $22 million for an upgrade of Wollongong Hospital and the already announced $10 million for improved Dapto access to the Princes Motorway.
"These are important initiatives for one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic parts of the entire state of NSW," Mr Minns said.
"I'm a southern Sydney member of parliament, a big part of my life has been spent in the Wollongong region and I know that this area needs an investment from a Labor government."
Mr Minns also said the $42 million, contingent on the party winning the March 25 state election, would not be funded by any sale of public assets.
The $22 million for the hospital included $12 million for planning and design work for an upgrade, as well as $7.85 million to buy a new CT scanner and MRI machine and $2 million to improve radiation treatment services for cancer.
"We put down the first down payment for the redevelopment of Wollongong Hospital," said Labor Health spokesman Ryan Park.
"A $12 million dollar investment into the early planning and preparation works that are going to be needed to ensure that our hospital keeps up with population growth."
Labor's Transport spokeswoman Jo Haylen said the $10 million would fund a $1.5 million initial review of the South Coast line and then $8.5 million for a business case - which will include looking at the South West Illawarra Rail Link.
"This is a complicated system," Ms Haylen said. "It's a century-old system of intertangled passenger and freight lines - we need to do that work.
"People across the Illawarra and South Coast have had a gutful of cancellations and delays across our rail network. The people of this region deserve a modern rail connection to Sydney."
The $10 million promise to fund ramps on and off the Princes Motorway at Dapto was announced by Shellharbour MP Anna Watson earlier this week.
"When the Liberals built the Albion Park Rail bypass they forgot to give access to the people of Dapto, Yallah and Haywards Bay," Ms Watson said.
"This is what we going to be fixing.
"There's a lot of planning to be done - there's a huge mess to be cleaned up and Labor intends to just do that."
Both Kanahooka Road and Fowlers Road have limited motorway access. While part of the funding is to determine which road will get the ramps, Ms Watson said it was her strong preference that they are built off Kanahooka Road.
Our news app has had a makeover, making it faster and giving you access to even more great content. Download The Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store and Google Play.
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
