THE $5.3 billion CBD Metro the so-called ``line to nowhere'' is officially axed and the four-times derailed $6.7 billion railway to the north-west is back on track.
Premier Kristina Keneally made the announcement on Sunday when unveiling the long-awaited 10-year, $50 billion transport blueprint the Metropolitan Transport Plan: Connecting the City of Cities.
It includes building the $4.5 billion Western Express CityRail, and an extra five peak-hour trains from Parramatta to Sydney. There will also be a 5.6km light rail extension from Lilyfield to Dulwich Hill and a 4.1km extension from Haymarket to Circular Quay via Barangaroo. And 1000 extra buses.
The decisions have been lauded, but a government with a record of announcing and re-announcing a raft of transport initiatives 10 in 15 years then abandoning them all after elections has a major credibility problem.
Voters are being asked to believe the on-off-on-again North-West Rail Link from Epping to Rouse Hill will begin in 2017 and be completed by 2024. The shovel-ready railway was included on Ms Keneally's blueprint, ominously, insiders say, against the wishes of Treasurer, Eric Roozendaal.
The Hills mayor, Peter Dimbrowsky, has applauded Ms Keneally, describing her dumping of the Metro and reinstatement of the Hills rail as her most important decision responding to the challenges of Sydney's growing population.
``This is a win for common sense and we're delighted that the premier has been able to put merit above politics,'' Cr Dimbrowsky said. ``It's great news for The Hills, great news for the economy and great news for positioning Sydney as a world-class city.''
But Greens MP Lee Rhiannon and Leichhardt mayor Jamie Parker summed up the scepticism thus: ``While it all looks good on paper, the premier has to do a lot more than just make a high profile announcement. The pressure is now on the premier to ensure this plan is fully funded and work commences immediately. Sydneysiders don't need another set of promises.''
Ms Keneally said taxpayers would fund compensation payments to disgruntled tenderers of the metro and that could top $60 million now lost on the project, a figure supplied in February by the construction industry.
The president of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils, Alison McLaren, welcomed the release of the Transport Plan. However, she said the North West Rail should be extended to Vineyard near Richmond and start by 2012.
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