NSW government outlines transport plans

The north-west and south-west rail link projects will be priorities under the NSW government's transport plans and four transport agencies will be abolished to better streamline services, a CEDA forum in Sydney has heard.

Outlining the O'Farrell Government's plans, Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian said when they came to government earlier this year there were 11 different transport agencies and services.

"When we looked around the world for models that worked…it was clear the way forward for NSW was, and is, policy integration," she said.

Ms Berejiklian said the new authority Transport for NSW would break down silos and allow transport planning and policy for different modes of transport to be done by one authority. Four of the current transport agencies would be abolished while the remaining agencies would focus on delivery.

She said there would be six key areas within the new authority that would be:

• Planning and programs - with a focus on network wide planning with a view to the medium to longer term
• Transport services - which would be responsible for procurement and maintenance of all transport services contracts
• Transport projects - focusing on timely and efficient delivery of key transport projects
• Policy and regulation 
• Freight and regional development - focusing on coordinating movement of goods around the state
• Customer experience division - delivery of a transport system driven by the needs of the customer.

Other key transport projects on the agenda Ms Berejiklian said were to implement an integrated electronic ticketing system, to be based on London's oyster card.

Ferry customers will see this start to be rolled out as early as late next year when trials begin, she said.

The north-west rail link was also a priority with 15 tenders already issued for preliminary work.

Ms Berejiklian said as a result of work done under these tenders, by the end of the year government would be able to advise the public of the project cost and when they can expect work to start. However, she said they had made a commitment to ensure work started in the first term of this government.

She said the south-west rail link project was also a priority and that the government would be seeking advice and assistance on the best way to finance these projects going forward.

On questioning about the government's position on tolls, Ms Berejiklian said the best thing the government could offer to alleviate congestion was better public transport options, with an efficient and appealing service that people wanted to use as their first option.

Touching on a second airport for Sydney, she said she was pushing her Federal colleagues to look at this issue as part of their fast rail review.

Click here to access the event audio.