We've taken a few extracts from the smh letters page on this very subject and want to hear YOUR views.

Please take a moment to click through and let us know your thoughts - 

'Will the lack of a rail link at time of opening, be an impediment to the airport's success?'

From the smh letters page  ...

So, Sydney's long-awaited second airport is dead before the first sod is even turned ("No-frills airport is not solution, critics say", August 4). No train link and one runway.  Call me cynical, but is it possible the owners of Sydney Airport, who've long argued against the need for a second airport, have influenced the federal government's decision, in effect, to nobble it? As one airline operator put it, "buses from Badgerys Creek to the CBD? Who are you kidding?"

By the NSW government's calculations, Sydney's population will grow by more than a million in the next 20 years. That population has nowhere to go but west.  We need another airport.

Can someone please tell me when we will get a government that makes independent, honest and sensible planning and policy decisions for contemporary Australia?

"No wonder Australians have lost faith in their democracy."

"A "no-frills airport" reflects no-frills thinking. Can someone please let the planners know that DC-3 aircraft are no longer the major mode of aviation people-moving. Infrastructure with vision is needed for Badgerys Creek – a high-speed railway link is not a luxury, it is essential."

"A no-frills airport with no rail connection seems a predictable outcome from a situation where the owner of Sydney Airport is only reluctantly being dragged into the picture, and neither state nor federal governments are really interested. Sounds now to be an "overflow" airport with a vast industrial estate attached for the real economic impact."

"So, no rail link for Badgerys Creek airport.  Preferred operator is Sydney Airport.  A large part of Sydney Airport's profit is from parking. No rail means more cars. More cars means more parking fees. Simple really. An airport for Sydney or its inhabitants? No, just for more profit." 

"No rail link to the new airport? What century are we living in, the 18th?"

"The clear focus of the Abbott government is investor interests, particularly for two Howard-government privatisations – Sydney Airport and Telstra. Like Sydney Airport, public transport to Badgerys Creek is being restricted as it competes with car parking, taxi and minibus operations for which the airport company charges high fees. A "no-frills" airport at commencement also minimises any fees the airport company may be asked to pay while our governments spend $3 billion on roads to serve Badgerys Creek." 

Another reason for a "no-frills" airport is airspace conflicts. The technical papers of the 1997 Badgerys Creek study show the selected runway orientation results in conflicts with Sydney Airport that are resolved by creating four layers of airspace across the Sydney Basin. The bottom layer is just 3000 feet (914 metres) above sea level. Airport noise will increase for all Sydneysiders and building heights will be restricted."

"Those who spoke against the governments' plans for Badgerys Creek airport at the aviation conference are not critics, they are logical viewers of correct long-term planning.

Even if the government view that "rail is a longer-term requirement" was correct, it would be much more logical – and much better economically – if the infrastructure was constructed as soon as possible.

It's so disappointing that our state and federal governments of both brands have so regularly failed at making long-term decisions."

"Badgerys Creek 2025 reminds me of Kingsford Smith in 1965.  Customs posted me there in September of that year. The International Terminal was a converted TAA hanger.   As the prop jets taxied outside the roller-door entries, we were blasted with kerosene.   The public transport was limited to the odd bus from Sydenham railway station.   I used to park my motorbike inside the terminal until told by Civil Aviation to park it outside.   

Heathrow, Hong Kong, Shanghai, among many others, have excellent rail connections.   Has nothing been learnt over the past 50 years?"