and 2050 to ensure the long-term survival and operation of the CityRail network. Christie's report suggested that several "metro" lines should be built to service new areas and to relieve capacity on existing lines. In particular, Christie suggested lines: between Cronulla and Miranda in Sydney's south to Dee Why on the northern beaches, via the airport, the CBD and North Sydney from Parramatta via Top Ryde or Olympic Park to the CBD via Drummoyne, with potential extension to the University of New South Wales and Sydenham from Hoxton Park to Parramatta and Castle Hill Western FastRail Western FastRail was a privately operated underground rail tunnel proposed to run between the Sydney CBD and Parramatta, a distance of 26 km, with the high-speed link continuing to Penrith on the outskirts of Sydney. First introduced in 2004 by a consortium of Dutch bank ABN AMRO and developer Leighton Holdings, the project, dubbed the Penrith High Speed Link, was again floated in December 2006 and received favourable comments by the New South Wales State Government, and was offered funding by Federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd should the Australian Labor Party win the 2007 Federal Election. The proposed link would ease congestion along the main west–east corridor and reduce the current 29-minute service into the city to just 12 minutes. The service would operate in conjunction with RailCorp, and would use CityRail's existing railway stations and ticketing system, but with an extra fee on top of the normal CityRail ticket price (at approximately $9.90 a trip including a $3.10 surcharge). The train fleet and rail infrastructure would be built and maintained by a private company. The line has been estimated to cost $5 billion. Metropolitan Rail Expansion Program, 2005 On 15 June 2005, Premier Bob Carr shortly before his resignation announced the Metropolitan Rail Expansion Program (MREP). The MREP consisted of three new rail connections: a North West Rail Link from Cheltenham to Rouse Hill a South West line between Glenfield and Leppington in Sydney's South West a CBD Rail Link between Redfern and Chatswood Estimated to cost about $8 billion, $5 billion of which was for the building of a new tunnel under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney central business district, (called the CBD Rail Link). Under this plan, the north-west suburbs would be served by the North West Rail Link by 2017, the new south-west suburbs would be linked to