The Sydney metro station where there are 2.5 cars for every parking space

“Build it and they will come” is the adage proving true in Sydney’s north-west, as a review into commuter car parking at one of the city’s busiest metro stations reveals demand runs to almost 250 per cent capacity.

For Tallawong station’s 975 commuter spaces, Blacktown Council found, there are 2400 motorists battling it out on an average day – and demand is growing at an “alarming” 50 per cent a year.

The review says some motorists arrive at the crack of dawn to secure a parking spot, while others circle in the vain hope of finding a free space.

The demand on the car park has been partly attributed to Tallawong’s location. At the end of the 52-kilometre metro line, the station is the closest stop for commuters in fast-growing suburbs to its west, including Marsden Park and Schofields.

The review found the shortage of commuter car parking sends about 1400 cars each day “spilling over” into surrounding streets– in which there is one kerbside space for every seven vehicles trying to find a spot.

The spillover is causing a spike in illegal parking, as well as instances of vehicles blocking driveways and increased safety risks for both motorists and pedestrians.

The findings come as no surprise to mother-to-be Molly Excell, who despite living within five kilometres of Tallawong station has to arrive at the car park at 7.15am to get to work in Pyrmont by 9am.

“Even when I arrive at 7am, the car park is full and it means having to park on the side of Cudgegong Road and then walk up the hill to the station, which isn’t a great experience in summer when you’re seven months pregnant,” she said.

“I would love not to have to drive, but the buses don’t go near my house, so I have no choice.

“More and more people are moving into the area and it just seems crazy to me that they didn’t build a bigger car park in the first place.”

The review found the “excessive” tally of vehicles using the station is more than double the combined number using the metro station commuter car parks at Kellyville and Bella Vista.

The demand at Tallawong is expected to increase due to a surge in major housing developments in and around the booming suburb – including 1800 units on two separate lots within a 50-metre radius of the station.

Blacktown Council has called on the NSW government to add bus routes to the station and to fund a new commuter car park adjacent to the station in any future deal with developers.

According to UNSW City Futures Research Centre professor Chris Pettit, simply adding more car parks to the site was not a silver-bullet solution.

“At some point there needs to be a cap because, if you keep building more car parks, all that will do is encourage more people to drive and you’ll end up with the same situation we have now,” he said.

“Instead we need to look at cities like London and Amsterdam, which have metro systems that don’t have any commuter car parking at all.

“What they have instead are excellent rapid public transport options and cycleways that connect metro systems to the areas where people live – that means people don’t even have to consider driving in the first place.”

A Transport for NSW spokeswoman said the NSW government was “committed to doing all that it can to encourage the community to leave their cars at home and where possible use public transport to ease congestion”.

She said 106 new bus services had been introduced along the north-west metro line this year. Planning was under way for connections between Tallawong and the St Marys interchange.

Sydney Metro’s latest annual report shows the soaring patronage at Tallawong is typical of the metro network. Passenger numbers almost tripled from 23.3 million in 2023-24 to 63.2 million, coinciding with the extension of the metro line from Chatswood to Sydenham.

Blacktown Mayor Brad Bunting said Tallawong station is “carrying the load” for the north-west growth region. He has called on the NSW government to fund the proposed extension of the metro line from Tallawong to St Marys – a project he said would distribute demand more evenly over the city’s north-west and transform Tallawong from a “terminus station” into a “through-connection station”.

Blacktown Council is also expected to use the findings of the review to lobby Transport for NSW to expedite additional bus routes to Tallawong station, including areas with limited public transport such as Schofields and South Riverstone.

“The metro, bus services and park-and-ride facilities are already carrying more people than the original modelling predicted [and] while the council is taking what steps it can locally, long-term solutions require a network-wide response,” Bunting said.

“Residents are clearly willing to use public transport, but the infrastructure that supports them has not kept pace with demand.”

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