Unlikely to happen at this late stage. What about South West services via the Airport Line and Sydenham? Where do they go? There isn't enough room on the City Circle for all of them. Planning and construction on the CBD to Sydenham metro is too far advanced to change things now. I think you and many others on here underestimate the backlash from the closure of the ECRL and Bankstown Lines for conversion to metro operation. We'll get the first taste of it next week. Happy to eat my words if all runs smoothly.neilrex wrote:Easily fixed. Illawarra lines to city circle. Eastern suburbs metro to Bankstown line metro. Northwest metro to Maroubra. That's what they should have done in the first place.
If I may be so bold to remind bloggers of the analogy with Infrastructure NSW's original proposal for WestConnex, which involved closing down Parramatta Rd and sinking it into a trench along its existing alignment and virtually demolishing adjoining properties along the route for redevelopment. It was a dumb idea from the start. It eventually dawned on them that it would be cheaper to construct the motorway in tunnel and avoid all of the disruption to existing traffic and cost of relocation of utilities on the surface.
The same principle applies to closing down existing rail lines for conversion to metro and indeed, dare I say it, constructing light rail along narrow inner city road corridors. It's a pity they didn't apply it in the case of the C&SELR, which should have been an underground metro in the first place, complemented by bus feeder services. That's another disaster waiting to happen, if it hasn't already. Hence my preference for underground metro expansion in the inner city regions rather than surface light rail. I may be a lone voice, but sooner or later, it's going to twig with someone in authority.