{"id":11479,"date":"2024-02-15T17:25:36","date_gmt":"2024-02-15T07:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=11479"},"modified":"2024-02-15T17:25:39","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T07:25:39","slug":"pippita-rail-trail-to-renovate-retired-abattoirs-branch-rail-bridge-to-connect-green-space-in-sydneys-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=11479","title":{"rendered":"Pippita Rail Trail to renovate retired Abattoirs Branch rail bridge to connect green space in Sydney&#8217;s west"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A rail bridge that has not been used for more than 30 years is set to be transformed into a pedestrian and cycle path to connect residents to green space across some of Sydney&#8217;s busiest roadways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rusty bridge that spans 13 lanes of traffic over Parramatta Rd-Great Western Highway and the M4 was last used in 1991 as the Abattoirs Branch train line, servicing the area&#8217;s abattoirs, brickworks, and the Homebush Saleyards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The line and several stations and platforms were located where Sydney Olympic Park now resides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now Cumberland Council wants to renovate it as part of the Pippita Rail Trail project, linking up 20,000 residents in Lidcombe with open space at Olympic Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3c1fea991ff48e5f345f1c1f91d0e153?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=1657&amp;cropW=2485&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=51&amp;width=862&amp;height=575\" alt=\"An artists impression of a bridge over a busy highway\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Council estimates 20,000 Lidcombe residents will benefit from the link to Olympic Park.&nbsp;<em>(Supplied: Cumberland City Council)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The council has released its first images of the proposed two-kilometre trail between Lidcombe train station and Edwin Flack Avenue in the Olympic Park precinct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The Pippita Rail Trail will offer a unique opportunity for cycling or walking directly from Lidcombe to Sydney Olympic Park,&#8221; Cumberland Council Mayor Lisa Lake said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/f25f947894a83453ae471e5c0f8be71b?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=1657&amp;cropW=2485&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=102&amp;width=862&amp;height=575\" alt=\"A artists rendering of a wide footpath being used by pedestrians and cyclists\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pippita Station was a stop on the now closed Abattoir Branch line.<em>(Supplied: Cumberland City Council)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The project, named after the former Pippita Station on the Abattoirs Branch line, received $770,000 from the state government&#8217;s Get NSW Active program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This transformation will create a destination that locals can use every day, and people from all over Sydney can visit and enjoy, while recognising the rich history of the area&#8217;s former railway line,&#8221; NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Plans for the shared pathway also include planting trees alongside to help negate the effects of urban heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Council is calling for feedback from the community about the project until March 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au\/3412bc3f7b5e6e56bdeacd3779d912f9?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&amp;cropH=1657&amp;cropW=2485&amp;xPos=0&amp;yPos=51&amp;width=862&amp;height=575\" alt=\"An artists impression of a cycleway on a road in front of a railway line\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The plan involves a cycleway that links up with Lidcombe train station.<em>(Supplied: Cumberland City Council)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chance to open &#8216;missing link&#8217;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Cyclist and advocate for the project Andrew Moss said the project would link up popular cycling areas including the Parramatta River, Olympic Park, Rookwood Cemetery, and the Cooks River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re talking about a middle missing link of infrastructure that could link all these other exciting places that people currently use and are proven to be very popular,&#8221; Mr Moss said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mr Moss was also excited about the project creating another way of entering and leaving the Olympic precinct when sporting and musical events were on.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Olympic station is not easy to use and get to,&#8221; Mr Moss said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s always massive queues and so forth, so why not have an alternative?&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A rail bridge that has not been used for more than 30 years is set to be transformed into a pedestrian and cycle path to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":11482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[273,163,47],"tags":[472,2139,7],"class_list":["post-11479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-rail-industry-news-australia-new-zealand","category-rail-news","tag-australian","tag-sydney","tag-transport"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11479"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11483,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11479\/revisions\/11483"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}