The Pippita Rail Trail will transform a forgotten rail corridor into a leafy pathway linking Lidcombe town centre with the Sydney Olympic Park. It is an exciting active transport project for Western Sydney.
It uses the abandoned Abattoir Branch rail line. For decades this railway transported livestock and workers to the abattoir works and brickworks located in what is now the Olympic Park precinct.
Conceived as a green linear park, the Pippita Rail Trail will incorporate two restored bridges that span 13 lanes of traffic over Parramatta Rd and Great Western Highway. Opening the bridge for active transport will break down major barriers to connectivity between town centres and green spaces.
An artist’s impression of the restored bridge. Road users will have seen the rusty dis-used structure that spans 4 lanes of the Great Western Highway and 9 lanes of the M4 motorway (Image: Cumberland City Council)
It will be an easy walk or ride from Lidcombe Station to the open spaces of the Olympic Park and various sporting and event venues. Cumberland City Council estimates 20,000 Lidcombe residents will benefit from the link to Olympic Park.
The rail trail will serve the rapidly growing residential populations in precincts such as Carter Street. High-quality, connected walking and cycling infrastructure is critical to support the NSW Government push for increased housing density.
The project aligns with a raft of local and State strategies, plans and policies. These include the Sydney Green Grid, the Strategic Cycleway Corridors program, the NSW Active Transport Strategy, the Cumberland Walking and Cycling Strategy and the Parramatta Bike Plan.
Cumberland City Council has drafted an excellent masterplan for the Pippita Rail Trail. The Masterplan on exhibition until 10th March 2024. Head here for full details and all the great plans and drawings. Bicycle NSW's submission is here.
Bicycle NSW Member and BIKEast advocate Andrew Moss is delighted to see Pippita progress through the hoops!
Andrew has championed the project over the last few years and shared some insights into its history.
An idea twenty-seven years in the making
“My involvement in the Pippita Rail Trail project began in 2020,” says Andrew. “I was intrigued by the opportunities for active transport that were hiding in plain sight all over the city – those generous overgrown strips of land alongside power, water and transport infrastructure. I started making enquiries about the possibilities for rail corridor land in Sydney.”
Andrew soon became aware of active transport planner Bruce Ashley. Bruce had undertaken a feasibility study of dis-used rail corridors in and around Sydney over twenty years earlier.
This study resulted in a landmark 1997 report commissioned by the NSW Department of Transport called ‘Cycleways Along Railway Corridors’. This report identified a number of corridors that could be repurposed as active transport connections. These were categorised as Rails-with-Trails and Rail-to-Trails opportunities.
“A handful of the projects are now coming to fruition in some form,” says Andrew. “But the majority never progressed much further, much to the puzzlement and dismay of Bruce.”
The Pippita Rail Trail was used as a key Rail-to-Trail case study. Bruce felt Pippita had huge potential as Sydney was gearing up for the 2000 Olympic Games. The disused assets were in good condition making implementation fairly straightforward and the link would form a critical pedestrian access point into the Olympics site. It would be heavily used by a wide cross-section of the community.
An extract from ‘Cycleways Along Railway Corridors’. The Pippita to Sydney Olympic Park connection was considered very feasible and desirable in 1997 as the Olympic facilities were emerging from the ground (Image: Bruce Ashley)
Building the momentum for the Pippita
Early in 2020, Andrew explored the abandoned Pippita rail line. He observed firsthand that the corridor of land Bruce Ashley had investigated over 20 years earlier was still available to repurpose as a walking and cycling route. Very available!
Site photographs taken on a visit to the Abattoir Branch rail corridor in early 2020 (Images: Andrew Moss)
“I was excited by what I had learnt about the Pippita Rail Trail. So I sought to explore the appetite of councils, politicians and decision makers to support its development from concept to reality,” says Andrew. “It was clear that a green link in this location was even more viable and necessary in 2020!”
A short time later Andrew and Bruce met Cumberland City Council staff at council offices in Auburn. The concept of a ‘Pippita Rail Trail’ was discussed and staff were excited to meet advocates who could help push the project forwards.
“However, it was very clear that the idea would only succeed with support outside of Council,” recalls Andrew. “Government agencies, the NSW Government and the responsible minister, at that time the Hon. Rob Stokes, Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, would need to unite behind the proposal.”
NSW Government competition provides a key opportunity
In August 2020, the NSW Government announced a competition for open space ideas. The competition was open to entries across the state and sought projects to contribute to the NSW Public Spaces Legacy Program. Under the program Sydney councils would be eligible for a share of the total funding pool of $250 million.
Acting quickly, Andrew and Bruce both gave short presentations to Cumberland City Council at a full council meeting on 19 August 2020. They hoped to stimulate awareness for the Pippita Rail Trail project, persuade councillors of its merits and generate a Council commitment and resources for its future development.
The commitment was forthcoming! A Cumberland City Council motion was unanimously carried to ‘Investigate the feasibility of the Pippita Trail project’.
The Public Spaces Ideas Competition entry
Andrew and Bruce then teamed up with Lee Roberts PhD. Lee is a cycling advocate and UNSW urban planning and design academic with a background in developing a number of US rail trails.
The trio entered the Pippita Rail Trail as a concept into the Public Spaces Ideas Competition in October 2020.
The competition concept captured an exciting vision of the Pippita Rail Trail and what it would mean to the local community and the broader people of Sydney (Image: Moss, Ashley and Roberts)
The competition entry highlighted the transformative potential of the Pippita Rail Trail. It would repurpose and re-naturalise disused public land and rail bridges. This would create public open space that generates valuable social interaction, cohesion and pride. A network of integrated pocket parks and trailside amenities would ensure that this new active transport spine contributes to vibrant community life and a strong local economy in a rapidly growing urban area that currently lacks accessible public spaces. A destination and a connection, it would provide access to local destinations and authentic local history, both indigenous and industrial.
Growing a coalition of support for the Pippita Rail Trail – and funding!
"Although the Pippita concept was not a winning Public Spaces Idea, the work undertaken to get to this point made it easier to coalesce backing for the project,” says Andrew. “I arranged to meet Ms Lynda Volt MP (NSW Member for Auburn) and Dr Fiona Martin MP (Federal member for Reid) to discuss potential political support and funding for design development.”
An artist’s impression from the masterplan, showing the boardwalk connection to Edwin Flack Avenue (Image: Cumberland City Council)
This led to a meeting with the Minister Rob Stokes and staffers from Department of Planning, Industry and Environment to present and discuss the trail concept.
“Then we had a breakthrough moment,” says Andrew. “After consultation with relevant government agencies to confirm their interest on the proposal and a feasibility study in 2021, Cumberland City Council applied for Get NSW Active funding. In August 2022, Minister Stokes, by this time overseeing the Active Transport portfolio, announced a grant of $770,000 to progress detailed design development of the Pippita Rail Trail!”
“This grant was one of the largest funding commitments awarded for the 23/23 round of the Get NSW Active program. It enabled Cumberland City Council to get cracking on drawing up the masterplan with consultants Place Design Group.”
Could the plans be improved?
Bicycle NSW strongly supports the masterplan developed by Cumberland City Council
Our submission makes some suggestions to further improve the project. In particular, the proposed connections at each end are not ideal. A bridge should be provided over Edwin Flack Avenue to prioritise access to the Olympic Park by people walking and cycling. Much more thought is needed at the Lidcombe end to integrate the Pippita Rail Trail into the local bike network.
We also urge the NSW Government to unlock more land and increase the public open space delivered alongside the trail.
And, of course, all levels of government must come together and commit to funding construction!
Please show your support for the project by Sunday 10th March here.
If you want more cycleways…
“Bicycle NSW has been campaigning for safe, accessible bicycle infrastructure for almost 50 years,” says Bicycle NSW CEO Peter McLean. “If you care about the environment, health, cost of living, social equity and childhood independence, join Bicycle NSW now and consider supporting our advocacy with a tax deductible donation.”
