Rail tunnel for Surry Hills on the table

The state government will discuss whether to construct a tunnel through Surry Hills or to install surface rail between Central station and Anzac Parade as part of the city’s light rail extension.

The tunnel is purported to reduce the journey by seven to eight minutes between these two points, compared to surface rail and would cut down travel times for commuters to UNSW and the eastern suburbs.

Convenor of EcoTransit Sydney, Gavin Gatenby said a surface route along Oxford St would be significantly cheaper, but would not be efficient for students travelling to UNSW.

The not-for-profit advocacy group is dedicated to promoting a less car-reliant urban landscape.

“It makes a lot of sense to have the tunnel go under Surry Hills. I think it should have at least one underground stop at Surry Hills, but this could be fitted retrospectively,” he said.

“The critical problem at the moment with establishing light rail are the buses in the CBD. We must get big chunks of the buses out of the CBD.”

The light rail extension and the Surry Hills tunnel are part of the same NSW transport project but would service two groups of transit users, daily commuters to Randwick and visitors to the city’s retail attractions.

“When the light rail goes out to the eastern suburbs, the route along Oxford St should serve the businesses along Oxford St,” Mr Gatenby said.

The state transport department has dedicated $103 million to light rail this year and the tunnel is projected to cost $100 million.

“$100 million is the first realistic cost for tunneling that I have seen in many years, the treasury has wildly exaggerated the cost of tunneling to discourage development previously,” he said.

Last December, NSW Transport announced it would host a series of roundtable discussions to involve key stakeholders in the light rail development plans and the broader masterplan.

A discussion paper incorporating community input issaid to be released this month. The paper will precede the department’s official NSW Long Term Transport Master Plan which is scheduled for mid 2012.

An executive member of the 2010 Business Partnership, Sue Ritchie said the tunnel would benefit the neighbourhood since it would remove traffic from the surface.

“It will liberate the streets and other village areas,” she said.

“The more underground traffic to accommodate through traffic, the better.”

“Surry Hills is an interesting enough place and will attract people no matter what.”

She said there is a critical need to relieve surface congestion and to facilitate movement from one side of the city to the other.