New airport passengers stuck with slow buses instead of rapid routes
Confidential documents reveal that an “investment decision” is needed to progress the long-promised rapid bus routes to Sydney’s new international airport.
Journey times range from 50 minutes to 66 minutes for a one-way trip, making them anything but the rapid bus routes first touted under the Western Sydney City Deal in 2018. That deal was a 20-year agreement between the state and federal governments and eight councils.
The $302.7 million cost of the first stage is a fraction of the $1.6 billion estimated in 2022 for the rapid bus project, which includes purchasing 100 new double-decker buses. The rapid bus routes would link Liverpool, Penrith and Campbelltown to the airport, which opens to passengers on October 25.
A parcel of land has been purchased for a new bus depot at the Aerotropolis, while the government has been negotiating to buy neighbouring property, according to a document marked “sensitive” in June.
The NSW government’s long-term “Sydney Plan”, released in August, also shows “future rapid bus routes” to the new airport as dotted lines on a map.