Thousands of commuters from inner west and south-west Sydney would be unable to catch trains direct to Redfern or Sydney University under the Baird government's plans for the future of the rail system.

Under the plans, the Bankstown Line between Bankstown and Sydenham would be converted to running privately operated single-deck trains, linking to northern Sydney through another harbour crossing.

Train privatisation: New line to skip key inner city stations. Credit:Peter Stoop

But those trains would not stop between Sydenham and Central. This means commuters from inner west stations like Marrickville, Canterbury or Campsie would lose their direct link to Redfern or the fast-growing areas like St Peters and Erskineville.

To win support for its program of electricity privatisation, the Baird government released maps of what another harbour rail crossing would look like and said work could start on the project within two to three years if the privatisation was successful.