The line is to run from Westmead through Parramatta and Olympic Park to the Bays Precinct at Rozelle and the central business district. The business case was to include confirmation of the number and location of stops.
But the government has not released the business case and,according to industry and Transport sources,the estimated cost of the line may have jumped to as high as $25 billion after land acquisition around station sites was factored in.
Leaked documents from 2018 show that Transport for NSW had estimated the cost of Sydney Metro West at $13 billion to $18 billion. This did not include the cost of a CBD station. The documents state that the estimate depends on the route chosen.
Although a strategic business case was endorsed by the cabinet infrastructure committee in 2017,the transport agency was concerned early in 2018 about the risk of a delay to the final business case.
Inside Transport for NSW,meanwhile,there is a greater emphasis on supporting the economic case for new transport projects through housing and other property development. But this emphasis could lead to higher initial costs for transport projects if the government buys land around station sites for development.
A spokesman for Sydney Metro,the agency responsible for delivering Metro West,said the government was “committed to delivering Metro West services in the second half of the 2020s”.