I’d like to offer another suggestion further to your article “Metro should be diverted to F6 route says Public Transport Lobby Group” (Leader, February 27).
My concept is to continue the south-east extension of the Sydney metro from say Zetland under the Cooks River and onto Kogarah, Kogarah Bay and/or Blakehurst, and then through to Miranda with the appropriate stops.
I suggest a metro station in the vicinity of Bay Street, but closer to Brighton-Le-Sands than Rockdale.
The Bay Street station would not only service that area but drain considerable load from Rockdale station.
The route via Kogarah Bay, rather than Sans Souci, would also divert patronage from Hurstville station and further relieve pressure on the T4 Illawarra line.
Such a route would make travel from the St George area very attractive due to many factors including reduced travelling time.
Let me assume for purposes of discussion that the Government will settle on three stations in the inner south-east suburbs.
This means that there would only be four stops between Central and Kogarah on the new metro.
At present, the express T4 trains also make four stops between these two stations – Redfern, Sydenham, Wolli Creek, Rockdale – but given the faster average speed of a metro train, this will greatly reduce the travel time to the St George and Sutherland Shire areas.
In fact, the government could add another station in the inner south-east and still improve on the current T4 express travelling times.
I know that the government wants the option of extending the metro from Zetland towards Maroubra but I think that an Illawarra metro is more urgent.
Maybe light rail would be better suited for that part of the city.
John E Gore, Doreen, Vic
