$100m Redfern station upgrade to start later this year

27 May 2020, 07:26 by Matt O'Sullivan

A $100 million upgrade to Redfern train station, one of Sydney's busiest, is due to start by the end of this year and be completed by mid-2022, more than a year later than initially planned.

The plans for a southern concourse involve construction of a six-metre wide walkway over the busy rail lines, linking the east and west sides of the station. New lifts and stairs will give commuters access to platforms one to 10, ensuring the station meets accessibility standards.

A new entrance will be constructed at Little Eveleigh Street, on the western side, and an entrance upgraded on the other side at Marian Street. Little Eveleigh Street will become a shared zone for pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles with a 10 kilometre an hour speed limit.

https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_1.237%2C$multiply_1.5109%2C$ratio_1.776846%2C$width_1059%2C$x_184%2C$y_0/t_crop_custom/q_62%2Cf_auto/8225fba48ea7e57f5efd3115b2727e06676fe035 — An artist's impression of the new footbridge and lifts at the southern end of Redfern station.Transport for NSW

An environmental report for the project, released on Wednesday, shows construction is due to start late this year or early 2021, and be completed within 18 months. The government had originally planned for it to start in late 2019 and be finished by the end of this year.

Roadworks in Little Eveleigh Street will take place over a nine-month period, occurring during the longer construction of the southern concourse to reduce disruption to residents.

The upgrade is aimed at ensuring Redfern can handle more passengers and meets accessibility standards, after years of refusals by successive governments to upgrade the heritage-listed station. Funding will come from the government's transport access program.

The station had a lift installed in 2015 but it serves two of its 12 platforms. A new entrance to the station on the corner of Gibbons and Lawson streets was opened in late 2018.

Before the coronavirus lockdown, about 70,000 passengers a day were using the station. The government forecasts about 100,000 pedestrians to use the new southern concourse each day by 2036, due to a large increase in people living, working and studying nearby.

https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_0.25%2C$multiply_1.5109%2C$ratio_1.776846%2C$width_1059%2C$x_402%2C$y_170/t_crop_custom/q_62%2Cf_auto/b1b89d4dce7c08873f1f71a007c24019732fcdd0 — The proposed Marian Street entrance on the eastern side of the station and shared zone.Transport for NSW

Conversion of the TNT buildings into residential apartments has been under way, as is construction of a 24-storey tower for student accommodation by the Aboriginal Housing Company at The Block.

The station acts as a "transport gateway" to the nearby Sydney University campus, Carriageworks and the $1 billion Australian Technology Park, where Commonwealth Bank was relocating thousands of staff.

Transport Minister Andrew Constance said the upgrade would ensure all customers, including those with limited mobility, could safely and easily access the station. "Station entries on Little Eveleigh and Marian Streets will make it easier for customers to get from platforms to streets and shared zones," he said.

Residents' main concern about the design of the southern concourse has been that it will funnel thousands of commuters every day onto Little Eveleigh and Marian streets, making them congested.

Several of the options for the upgrade considered bypassing Little Eveleigh Street via an "aerial walkway". However, these were dropped because of factors such as longer distances for commuters to walk from platforms to nearby streets.

The proposal is subject to final planning approval by the Department of Planning.