The influx of residents to suburbs such as Oran Park and Gledswood Hills will have to wait years for new public transport options. Credit:Wolter Peeters "People in Sydney's west suffer both from poor transport links and a scarcity of jobs near where they live," he said. Dr Charlton said not only did commutes take longer for people living in these areas, they sometimes required multiple modes of transport. "People in some parts of the west have poor public transport, requiring them to take a combination of bus and train services, often with multiple changes," he said. The Greater Sydney Commission recently released a draft district plan for Sydney's south west in which they outlined the importance of delivering transport options to meet new housing developments.

The site of the proposed rail station at Oran Park housing development. Credit:Wolter Peeters "Planning in greenfield precincts should provide for the timely delivery of transport links and ensure that these are sequenced and co-ordinated with housing delivery." In the next 30 years, the Department of Planning and Environment is expecting 115,000 new homes to be built in the area, nearly 4000 homes every year. The newly opened Leppington Station in Sydney's south west. According to a spokesperson from the department, Sydney's south west will experience a huge population expansion in the next 20 years.

"By 2036, the South West District's population is projected to grow by an estimated 373,000 people, to around 1.088 million." The spokesperson also said that a deal between state and federal government would create 100,000 more jobs in the area giving the deal a "generational" timeframe. Oran Park is one of the fastest growing suburbs in Sydney's south west but currently has one of the longest commutes in Sydney, according to the data from AlphaBeta. For the estimated 5000 residents who live in Oran Park, the closest train station is Leppington, a 25-minute bus ride away. The Leppington train station was constructed recently as part of the South West Rail Link to serve the expanding area with the line set to extend beyond this station at some point in the future.

There are plans to provide Oran Park with a train station, however the proposed site is currently a vacant lot. The state Transport Minister, Andrew Constance, has previously said that construction on the station could be decades away. A spokesman for Transport for NSW said that new bus services had been introduced into the area to make it easier for residents to connect to train stations. "In March 2016 we introduced a brand new bus route, Route 841, providing a much needed service for the new residential estates along Camden Valley Way." The government is investigating other public transport options for the area according to a Transport for NSW spokesperson.

"Transport for NSW is currently undertaking a joint scoping study with the Federal Government to define the needs, timings and service options for rail investment to service the coming Western Sydney Airport and western Sydney generally." Plans for a train corridor have been outlined that would connect suburbs from Narellan to Bringelly, including Oran Park, although construction dates are still yet to be decided. Further details on the future of rail in the area will be known when the government completes its scoping study this year, identifying options to be taken forwards for further assessment. According to Opal card statistics, 2300 people tap on along the South West Rail Link every day, with 45 per cent of those people alighting at a stop within the City Circle. Those travelling from Oran Park could expect an average travel time of 90 minutes to the Sydney CBD.

Only around 10 per cent of those who tapped on in the South West Rail Link alighted at another station in the south west, showing that employment options in the area were only supporting a small percentage of the growing community. The NSW Government has outlined plans to boost employment in the area over the next few decades. The new Western Sydney Employment area will provide more than 57,000 jobs locally over the next 30 years, but with plans to have 300,000 residents in the area before then, tens of thousands of people will still be forced to commute to employment areas further afield. The new Western Sydney Airport is expected to employ 9000 people by the early 2030s but could also improve transport links in the area. The construction of the Western Sydney Airport could mean that a rapid transit train could be established between the CBD and the south west, cutting city commute times to 30 minutes.

A rapid transit train would be an expensive option, however, representing a cost three times that of the NorthWest Metro, at $25 billion. While no plans are yet to be announced, Transport for NSW has said they're keeping a close eye on the area. "Future improvements to public transport services in the area, including catering for new residential developments, will be considered in future planning as the area expands."