The 2010s saw many developments relating to transport in the Australian city of Sydney. The decade saw a substantial investment in infrastructure, including a new airport, motorway projects, light rail lines, Australia's first metro system, the new Waratah fleet and the demise of the non-air conditioned S Sets from the rail network. Planning and branding of public transport services became substantially more centralised.
Governance In Australia, urban transport is primarily the responsibility of the state and territory governments. Transport was a major issue in the lead up to the 2011 New South Wales state election. The previous (1995–2011) NSW Labor government's management of public transport was perceived as poor and a succession of infrastructure projects that were announced and then abandoned proved politically damaging. The election saw the 16-year-Labor government defeated in a landslide by the Liberal–National Coalition. The Coalition retained power in the 2015 election and the 2019 election.
The following individuals have served as Premier or Transport Minister during the decade: Party PremierPremier's term of office Transport MinisterMinister's term of office rowspan=2 LaborKristina Keneally4 December 200928 March 2011 David Campbell 8 September 2008 20 May 2010 John Robertson 21 May 2010 28 March 2011 rowspan="5" Liberal Barry O'Farrell 28 March 2011 17 April 2014 Gladys Berejiklian4 April 20111 April 2015 Mike Baird17 April 201423 January 2017 Andrew Constance 2 April 2015 6 October 2021 Gladys Berejiklian 23 January 2017 5 October 2021
Transport for NSW
Transport for NSW is a statutory authority of the New South Wales Government that manages transport services in the state. It was established on 1 November 2011. The authority was a separate entity from the New South Wales Department of Transport. The authority subsumed the Transport Construction Authority and the Country Rail Infrastructure Authority, and plans and coordinates the functions of RailCorp, the State Transit Authority and Roads & Maritime Services.
Transport for NSW took over the management of most train, bus, ferry and light rail services in New South Wales, which had previously been managed by the operators of the services. The authority now manages the route design, timetabling and branding of these services and also provides passenger information via printed material, a telephone service and a website. Operation of the services is contracted out to a mixture of other government-owned organisations and private enterprise.
The organisation worked to provide more unified branding of public transport services. A new series of logos, dubbed "the hop", was introduced. New mode icons for trains, buses, ferries and light rail were also introduced. Train, ferry and light rail services were given line numbers (T1-T7 for trains, F1-F7 for ferries and L1 for light rail). The icon for metro was also introduced when the metro opened to service in May 2019.
Since absorbing Roads & Maritime Services in December 2019 (see below), it is also responsible for building and maintaining road infrastructure, managing the day-to-day compliance and safety for roads and waterways, and vehicle and license registrations.
Roads and Maritime Services As part of the 2011 reforms that established Transport for NSW, Roads & Maritime Services (RMS) was created as a new agency of the New South Wales Government. It was responsible for building and maintaining road infrastructure and managing the day-to-day compliance and safety for roads and waterways. It was formed from a merger of the Roads & Traffic Authority and NSW Maritime. Planning responsibilities were transferred to Transport for NSW.
On 1 December 2019, RMS was dissolved and all its functions were merged into Transport for NSW.
Public transport ticketing
The ticketing system used on government-operated services in urban New South Wales was expanded and rebranded in April 2010.MyZone website, accessed 2 February 2010. Called "MyZone", the changes somewhat standardised fare product names and ticket designs across trains, buses and ferries; and brought privately operated buses into the same fare structure as those operated by the State Transit Authority. Limited integration with the then privately owned light rail system was added in 2011. The number of fare bands was reduced, which provided some commuters with substantial price cuts for public transport. Like the previous ticketing range, MyZone used the existing magnetic-stripe Automated Fare Collection system on trains, government buses and ferries. Private bus services and the light rail required manual checking or validation of the ticket by the driver or conductor.
The magnetic-stripe system was introduced in 1992 and had come to be seen as out-of-date. Tcard was a failed attempt to introduce an inter-modal stored-value smart card. Though originally intended to be in place before the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the project suffered major delays. In 2007, the state government terminated the contract to deliver the project. On 12 April 2010, the state government announced that a new contract had been awarded for the second attempt to introduce a smartcard system. The new system, called Opal, was introduced between December 2012 and December 2014. Once the rollout was complete, Opal quickly started replacing all other tickets. The pre-existing tickets were retired in stages; the last remaining tickets were withdrawn on 1 August 2016. At this time, single trip Opal tickets were introduced for infrequent travellers.
Road NorthConnex NorthConnex is a motorway tunnel in the northern suburbs. Opened 31 October 2020, it connects the M1 Pacific Motorway to the M2 Hills Motorway. NorthConnex links to the Sydney Orbital Network and forms part of the National Highway route. Major construction began in mid-2015 and completed in late 2020.
The tunnel will provide an alternative to Pennant Hills Road. In 2013 National Roads and Motorists' Association members identified Pennant Hills Road as the third worst road in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
WestConnex WestConnex is a motorway scheme currently under construction. The scheme, a joint project of the New South Wales and Australian governments, encompasses widening and extension of the M4 Western Motorway, a new section for the M5 South Western Motorway named the M8, and a new inner western bypass of the Sydney CBD connecting the M4 and M5.
The initial M4 widening and King Georges Road Interchange Upgrades began construction in 2015 and were completed in 2017. The M4 East was completed in July 2019, and the New M5 Tunnel is due for completion in 2020 respectively. The final stages, M4–M5 link, Iron Cove Link and Sydney Gateway, are expected to begin construction in 2019 and be completed by 2023.
Other road proposals The Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link was a planned north-south motorway between Frenchs Forest in the Northern Beaches and the WestConnex motorway at Rozelle in the Inner West. The four-lane motorway is planned to be 14 km long. The Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel corridor currently carry 80 percent of all vehicles crossing Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River. The new tunnel would reduce pressure on the existing infrastructure by providing another harbour crossing. The New South Wales Government pledged $77 million in funding to evaluate the design and construction feasibility of the project.
In 2014, federal government and the New South Wales state government jointly funded the Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan (WSIP), a road investment program consisting of key road upgrade projects in Western Sydney. Included in the plan is the Western Sydney Airport Motorway, a planned east-west motorway along the current alignment of Elizabeth Drive between the Westlink M7 Motorway and The Northern Road. The four-lane motorway is planned to be 14 km long and to be built at a cost of $1.25 billion. It is aimed at providing direct access from the Westlink M7 to the new Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek. The NSW Government announced $6 million for planning the Western Sydney Airport Motorway as part of the 2014–2015 State Budget. Other WSIP projects include the upgrade, road widening, and partial realignment of The Northern Road between South Penrith and Narellan.
A northern extension the Princes Motorway (F6) is being considered. The motorway links Sydney and Wollongong and currently ends in Sydney's southern suburbs. As part of modifications made during the planning stage of the WestConnex project, stub tunnels will be added to the M8 tunnel to allow for an extension connection to it by the F6 extension. In June 2016 Roads & Maritime Services commenced geotechnical analysis to determine underground rock and soil conditions on the former F6 corridor from Waterfall to the Sydney Orbital Network at Rockdale with a view into developing a possible link between the Princes Motorway and the Orbital Network. In 2017, it was revealed that the state government had reviewed a 3.6 billion dollar train tunnel between Thirroul and Waterfall on the South Coast Line that could reduce travel time between Sydney and Wollongong by 22 minutes, but the government favoured improving and extending the motorway instead. Later in 2017, a state government leak showed the extent of the route. Works would include tunnels to the northern side of the Captain Cook Bridge and a bridge duplication allowing for motorway traffic to use the existing bridge and local traffic to keep access. To the south of the bridge, a surface motorway would run through current parks and reserves which had been left for the original route, then run along the route of the current Princes Highway with tunnels bypassing the suburbs of Heathcote and Waterfall before joining the existing freeway.
Heavy rail and metro From CityRail to Sydney Trains At the start of the decade, Sydney's suburban passenger rail network was owned by RailCorp and operated under its CityRail brand. CityRail had two tiers of service: suburban services catered for travel within Sydney, while intercity services extended out to the surrounding regions. The new Coalition government decided to reform this structure. RailCorp was stripped of its role as network manager and passenger service operator but remained the network owner. Two new operators were created: Sydney Trains maintained the network and operated suburban passenger services, while NSW Trains operated intercity services under the NSW TrainLink brand. The new operators took control on 1 July 2013."RailCorp job cuts first of many: unions" Sydney Morning Herald 15 May 2012 "Ruthless RailCorp reforms planned as middle management axed" Daily Telegraph 15 May 2012Corporate Plan 2012/13 RailCorp "700 jobs to go as RailCorp gets the axe" Daily Telegraph 16 November 2012
Rail Clearways Program and 2013 timetable
The Rail Clearways Program was a package of infrastructure improvements to the Sydney suburban network that took place in the second half of the 2000s and the first half of the 2010s. The following projects were completed in the 2010s: