‘rubbish in our sky’: sydney monorail station left in limbo after seven years

It is a slice of central Sydney that almost no one seems to want. More than seven years after Sydney’s single loop monorail track was removed, the state government and local council are in a

stand-off over who is responsible for forking out $2 million to dismantle a monorail station that hangs over Liverpool Street at World Square. It is one of three stations left by the

government when the monorail track was demolished in 2013. The two other stations are in Darling Harbour and are set to be demolished by their large private owners in the next few years as

part of redevelopment plans for the area. Hotel mogul Jerry Schwartz said the abandoned station at World Square, which adjoins his family’s Rydges hotel, was falling into disrepair and

potentially posed a hazard. “Everyone has wiped their hands of it and said nobody owns it,” he said. “What happens if glass breaks and falls down on the pedestrians below?” Dr Schwartz said

he was willing to solve the problem by reviving his plans to put a fish tank, bar or gallery in the platform which juts over Liverpool Street and forms part of Sydney’s history. “It would be

a fantastic feature. I would love to turn it into something that was a public place,” he said. “I have offered to maintain it and reinvigorate it. You could see the fish when you were

coming down Liverpool Street.” The City of Sydney would have to consent to the re-use of the monorail station, and has shown no interest in doing so. The council has budgeted about $2.1

million to remove the station, but will only proceed if it can reach an agreement with Transport for NSW to reimburse the cost. The council’s chief executive, Monica Barone, said the last

vestiges of the monorail “drives us crazy”. “It is not ours and it should never have been ours. If you remove your infrastructure you should remove your infrastructure – not leave half of it

hanging off other people’s buildings,” she told a council committee last month, referring to the government. Despite the council’s desire to remove the station, Dr Schwartz said it would be

a “very difficult” job because the steel beams that support it form part of his family’s hotel. “You would have to rip off the whole side of the building – it is not like the other

stations,” he said. City of Sydney councillor Linda Scott said it was time for the last remaining stations to be pulled down. “Sydney is a global city – we shouldn’t be plagued by rubbish in

our sky,” she said. Transport for NSW said it had no authority over the development or removal of stations, which was the responsibility of private owners in consultation with the council.

“The NSW government does not own, operate or have an interest in the former monorail stations. They are all privately owned,” it said. The agency did not say whether the government would pay

for the World Square station’s removal. Under redevelopment plans for Cockle Bay, property company GPT plans to demolish the monorail station which hangs over the Western Distributor

motorway at Darling Park. The Harbourside station, which adjoins Pyrmont Bridge, is also set to eventually face the wrecking ball as part of Mirvac’s plans to redevelop the 1980s Harbourside

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