For a station with 12 platforms, the railway infrastructure is antiquated. That it has only one lift is emblematic of the station’s problems. A 2013 survey by the NRMA of 11,000 passengers on the network indicated that from the passenger’s perspective Redfern was among the top five most frustrating stations in Sydney.
The Central to Eveleigh Corridor redevelopment will add 10,000-26,000 extra residents to the precinct progressively over the next 15-20 years.
Construction work on the former Australian Technology Park (ATP) site commenced in January. Mirvac has scheduled remediation and foundation piling works for two buildings for its major tenant the Commonwealth Bank in January and February 2017.
Building 1, due for completion in April 2019, is a nine-storey commercial office building with ground level retail and childcare. Building 2, due for completion in June 2020, is a seven-storey commercial building with ground level retail including a supermarket.
These buildings will be office space for 10,500 finance sector employees who will be relocated from existing jobs in western Sydney, but this number does not include service and retail staff who will also work on the site, so in total Mirvac has calculated that another 12,600 workers will be commuting into the area. According to the traffic report Mirvac submitted to planning authorities, 81 per cent of these new employees will travel to work by public transport using already stretched and barely coping railway and bus infrastructure.
The Planning Assessment Commission in its December 2016 determination of the Mirvac development application for the ATP site said in respect of upgrades to Redfern Station “the Commission also requested information regarding the capacity at Redfern Train Station. T[ransport] f[or] NSW confirmed that while upgrades may be required of Redfern Station in the future there are no works currently committed to or funded”.
In October 2015 the Minister for Planning Rob Stokes, when the ATP was put up for sale by private tender, stated that “proceeds from the sale of ATP ($263m) will be invested in the local area helping to finance major infrastructure investment”.
It would however appear that Redfern Station will not be the direct beneficiary of those funds. In minutes of a meeting in November 2016 between Transport for NSW and the Planning Assessment Commission (see Progress Report on Redfern Station – 23 Nov 2016) it is noted that “investigations into the capacity at Redfern Station are underway but a business case has not yet been prepared. There is therefore currently no commitment or funding to implement any works. It is expected that the results of the station investigations will not become available until mid 2017.” It is also consistent with UrbanGrowth’s Central to Eveleigh website which indicates that Redfern Station will be investigated this year.
Again it is a case of Redfern – “second class wait here” (with apologies to Henry Lawson).
