"Sources familiar with the plans - drafted in 2003 for the 2005 Metropolitan Rail Expansion Program - say the north-west link could provide a minimum of six trains an hour in each direction, without the need to upgrade any of City Rail’s major infrastructure. It would require only the construction of an extension between Rouse Hill and Epping stations, and a new junction north of Epping."
This SMH article seems to suggest that a simple and fairly affordable north-west rail line could be up and running wth relatively little difficulty, and that the state government has been sitting on it because it won’t make them look cool the way building a spanking new metro would.
