News
13 November, 2026
Sydney Trains told to go back to the drawing board
Angry residents have told Sydney Trains to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new plan for Exeter Railway Station that doesn’t involve the removal of 15 mature trees.
Angry residents have told Sydney Trains to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new plan for Exeter Railway Station that doesn’t involve the removal of 15 mature trees.
They say the current plan will destroy the ambience of the village.
As reported by The Southern Wire, Sydney Trains is planning a major upgrade of the station to improve safety following a number of train ‘strikes’ in recent years.
The planned upgrade will include the full replacement of both platforms.
An arborist has concluded that the works will have a ‘fatal encroachment’ on 14 mature trees.
A 15th tree should be removed because it is considered an undesirable invasive weed species.
Project manager Nabeel Nabeel from Sydney Trains and a heritage specialist from Transport for NSW (TfNSW) addressed Monday night’s meeting of the Exeter Village Association.
Mr Nabeel said trains had struck Platform 1 at Exeter a number of times in recent years because of platform instability.
The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has moved the track away from the platform to reduce the risk of train strikes but the tracks are now too narrow – creating the risk of two trains passing through the station striking one another head-on.
Mr Nabeel said Sydney Trains had initially planned to only upgrade Platform 1 but investigations had also found Platform 2 to be unstable.
Both platforms are starting to tilt towards the tracks because of tree root pressure.
Mr Nabeel said the plan was now to rebuild both platform walls and move them away from the tracks.
He said the project would address issues relating to platform instability as well as track clearances and would enable current speed restrictions to be removed.
Mr Nabeel said the trees had been given a high priority and every effort had been made during the design process to protect them.
He said the plan was to replace the 15 trees with Kaurii pines with a mature height of between 30 metres and 50 metres.
Root barriers would be used to keep tree roots away from the new platform walls.
Mr Nabeel said an independent heritage specialist had found that removal of the trees would have an “overall moderate adverse impact” on the station’s historic significance.
The application for the project will be determined by Heritage NSW, but Sydney Trains is planning to start works as early as next month.
Tree removal is planned to commence in February 2027 around Platform 1 with a three-day rail possession scheduled for March 2027 to enable reconstruction of the platform.
Platform 2 works would commence in March 2028.
Residents were told they would be given a say on how the trees could be ‘repurposed’ and they would also be invited to take part in a landscaping day once replanting begins.
Exeter residents acknowledged the need for the works but described Sydney Trains’ approach to the project as “antagonistic” and “bordering on offensive”.
One accused Sydney Trains of only attempting to start a conversation with the Exeter community after decisions had already been made.
Former engineer David Williamson described the proposed plan as ‘inflexible’ and ‘unimaginative’ and said there must be some clever engineers at Sydney Trains who could come up with a design that didn’t destroy the station’s heritage value.
Mr Williams presented an alternate design using piles that he said would reduce the need for excavation and minimise damage to tree roots.
Residents were particularly angry after learning that the heritage assessment for the project had been completed using photographs of the site – and not through a site visit.
They said the design did not take into account the impact tree removal would have on the entire village, not only in terms of aesthetics but in terms of noise, pollution and decreased property values.
State Trains agreed to have another arborist look at the site and to review the proposed design to see if additional trees could be saved.
It also committed to further community consultation in relation to replacement trees.
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