Major construction on a rail line which will link the new international airport and Aerotropolis in Sydney’s west with its growing western region and with the remainder of Sydney has moved closer after the project received state-level approval.

The Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport project has received environmental approval from the NSW Government.

Commonwealth approvals – which pertain to rail development work within the new airport boundaries – are expected in coming months.

Set to open in 2026 in time for the opening of the new airport, the line will connect the airport with major commercial, residential and employment hubs including the new Aerotropolis, the new Parklands City and existing Sydney rail networks.

An artist impression of the new Airport terminal station.

Starting at the new Aerotropolis Station at its southern end, it will run in a northly direction past the new airport, a new business park and the suburbs of Luddenham and Orchard Hills before terminating at St Marys – from which those travelling into the CBD will be able to connect with existing services.

It will have a combination of underground, above ground and viaduct sections.

Commuting times between the airport and the Aerotropolis, the airport and St Marys and the Metropolis and St Marys will be five, fifteen and twenty minutes respectively.

Trains will run every five minutes.

Consumers will not need a timetable but will simply ‘turn up and go’.

The new airport rail line will link the new airport with existing rail services at St Marys, from which commuters will be able to transfer to access the CBD via existing rail services.

All up, the new line will transport up to 7,740 passengers each hour in each direction and will take around 110,000 vehicles off local roads each day.

Around 14,000 jobs will be created during construction – including roles for at least 250 apprentices.

Early works commenced last December. Major work will start in the coming months, whilst the tunnelling contract will be awarded by the end of the year and tunnel boring machines are expected to be in the ground by the end of 2023.

Commuters using the airport line will be able to connect with regular Sydney rail services via St Mary’s station (pictured above)

Still, the project has not been without controversy.

In March, Infrastructure Australia said that expected benefits of the project which are contained within the government’s business case may have been overestimated and suggested that the $11 billion project’s costs would likely outweigh its benefits to the tune of $1.8 billion.