Transport NSW GOVERNMENT for NSW

Our Ref: 00793074 Your Ref: R15/0016 Out-00028736 Ms Tara McCarthy Chief Executive Local Government NSW GPO Box 7003 NSW 2001

Dear Ms McCarthy

Thank you for your correspondence on behalf of Local Government NSW about train services to the Liverpool Local Government Area and to growth and regional areas.

Improving transport is important to our customers and essential to businesses and the NSW economy as we grow, so we have made tackling this issue a priority. For too long transport was neglected across NSW, so we are investing $51.2 billion in long overdue improvements in roads and public transport to ensure infrastructure keeps pace with our needs.

As Liverpool City Council would be aware, the Liverpool area has already benefited from the substantial timetable improvements introduced in 2017. For example, express services via the T3 were introduced, with six trains per hour and a journey time to the CBD of only 53 minutes. This is up to nine minutes faster than the journey via the T2 Leppington/lnner West Line. Nearly 90 per cent of Liverpool customers now have access to peak period turn-up-and-go services, with a train every 10 minutes or better.

The T5 Cumberland Line was also provided 280 new services each week, including late night and weekend services. New direct links between Leppington, and further connect South West and North West Sydney. These changes have been a resounding success, with a 30 per cent growth in patronage from the South West to Parramatta.

Sydney is expanding and the NSW Government is working hard to deliver an integrated transport system that meets the needs of customers now and in the future. The new timetable is an important part of Stage 1 of the NSW Government's $4.3 billion More Trains, More Services program. The program boosts network capability, provides better infrastructure and represents the single largest increase in capacity on the network.

As you may be aware, in December 2018 the NSW Government also announced its commitment to starting work on a fast rail network in this term of government. This transformative vision will seek to link regional centres to each other and Sydney, significantly reducing travel times across NSW and giving people greater choice about where they live, work and visit. This vision builds on the work already identified in the Future Transport 2056 strategy and the work already underway in developing the business case for faster rail connections on the Sydney to Newcastle corridor.

Transport for NSW 18 Lee Street, Chippendale NSW 20081 PO Box K659, Haymarket NSW 1240 transport.nsw.gov.au 1ABN 18 804 239 602 - 2 - 00793074

The NSW Government has appointed Professor Andrew McNaughton to lead an expert panel to provide advice to the NSW Government on how the government should best deliver a fast rail network to connect the state. The panel will identify opportunities for regional growth and improved services, and present the blueprint for how the government will deliver the network, including staging, route and delivery options. Four potential routes have been identified as the starting point for investigation: • The Northern Route, including the Central Coast and Newcastle; • The Southern Inland Route, including Goulburn and Canberra; • The Western Route, including Lithgow, Bathurst and Orange; and • The Southern Coastal Route, including Wollongong and Nowra.

Through the course of these investigations, the Department of Premier & Cabinet, Transport for NSW and Professor McNaughton will identify the preferred alignment of the rail line, recommended train speeds and station locations. This work will also inform potential improvements to existing rail corridors in the short to medium term. As this project progresses, and a fast rail network becomes a reality, commuters will potentially see their travel times reduced by 75 per cent.

In March 2019, the NSW Government committed an initial $295 million into the delivery of a new network, allowing us to get the early work done, putting in place the building blocks for the more transformative work that will deliver faster rail and give people greater choice about where they live and how they commute to work. These initial investments include: • Sydney to Canberra - $80 million for preliminary work on a new straightened route to a high speed standard between Menangle and Yerrinbool, north of Goulburn. • Sydney to Nowra - $125 million to start the duplication of the rail line between Berry and Gerringong, with a 4km section of the line to be upgraded, along with extra platforms at Bomaderry to allow for more frequent services. • Sydney to Newcastle & Port Macquarie - $80 million to develop a new rail alignment between northern Sydney and Woy Woy, including investigation of potential tunnelling options which will support high speed trains to better connect the Central Coast to Sydney. • Sydney to the Central West- an initial $10 million to get work underway on a route, including options for crossing the Blue Mountains.

Local Government NSW may be assured the NSW Government is committed to continuing to improve customer travel times across the rail network, making travel faster, safer and more reliable. For further information, you may wish to visit nsw.gov.au/fastrail and future.transport.nsw.gov.au.

Thank you for taking the time to write.

Yours sincerely

Rodd Staples Secretary

28/06/2019