Sutherland to Cronulla Active Transport Link

An active transport 'spine' along the rail corridor?

The 11km Sutherland to Cronulla Active Transport Link (SCATL) has been the subject of community advocacy for over 20 years. SCATL was conceived as a shared user path located within, or very close to, the rail tracks to create a direct, off-road regional ‘spine’ route that avoids steep gradients and links key centres. Delivery of SCATL was a NSW Government election pledge in 2019.

The project is now very different to the SCATL promised to the community in 2015. 

Bicycle NSW is very concerned that optimal routes continue to be overlooked. In 2022, we wrote a detailed Issues Paper to highlights how the reasons provided by Transport for NSW to abandon the rail corridor SCATL are not valid for long sections of the corridor. We provided a raft of workable recommendations for the project.

Current status

Stage 1 was completed in 2019. This section was always intended to run along road corridors.

Despite relentless advocacy from Bicycle NSW and community groups, Stage 2 East, opened in early 2024, was not located adjacent to the railway tracks. It is on local and state roads. Although the shared path crosses multiple driveways and falls well short of Transport for NSW policy standards, it does have high-quality sections that meet the needs of a wide range of users. Stage 2 East must now be extended towards both Cronulla and Kirrawee to complete SCATL.

However, the complex western section of the Stage 2 languishes on the drawing board. This section is particularly difficult to accommodate in the road network. It is a very congested area of the Shire with high pedestrian and vehicle traffic due to schools, large apartment complexes and the Westfields shopping centre.

Community advocates have ramped up their campaign to urge decision makers to reconsider use of the rail corridor for some sections of the alignment. There is a petition to sign here. Please also write to the Transport Minister. Letter templates are here.

If concerns around access, ownership and safety can be resolved along certain stretches of this corridor, lessons learned can be rolled out for more sections, including the Stage 3 project towards Cronulla. And SCATL can set a precedent for many projects elsewhere in NSW.

The official Transport for NSW project page, with links to plans and construction updates, is here.

The future

Bicycle NSW advocates that the historic reasons for Sydney Trains to say ‘no’ to sharing their corridors are not valid in today’s strategic context.  TOD developments around train stations will bring huge numbers of new residents to our suburbs. High-capacity active transport routes connecting to public transport are essential to avoid 'carmageddon' in the future. The NSW Government must challenge a status quo that locks out the infrastructure a growing city desperately needs.