Construction will begin this year on a metro line linking the new Western Sydney airport and St Marys railway station, after a $5.25 billion injection from the federal government announced on Monday.

Two new metro stations will also be built at Luddenham and Orchard Hills as part of the project, which is set to be completed by 2026 – the year the airport is slated to open.

The Sydney Metro-Western Sydney Airport line has a hefty price tag of about $11 billion.

“14,000 jobs will be created in the process. This is a massive jobs creating project for Western Sydney,” said Minister for Cities and Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Western Sydney residents will reap the benefits of the investment well before the first train leaves the station.

“Getting these big projects even more quickly is something we’ve been working together, states and territories and the Commonwealth,” he said.

“The National Cabinet talks about a lot of things and a big part of it is now how we reboot and rebuild the economy.”

Mr Morrison said Western Sydney locals would benefit from the project well before it was finished. Photo: ABC

Mr Morrison said he was pleased to match the Berejiklian government’s investment in the project, which brought the federal government’s investment to $5.25 billion.

“This is how Australia makes it way back out of the COVID-19 crisis, infrastructure projects like this one,” Mr Morrison said.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she could not recall a similar transport investment from the federal government and described the job opportunities the project offered as “music to my ears”.

“The way through this economic disaster – not an underestimate in terms of what our economy is going through – is through jobs creation, and this project alone … will create 14,000,” she said.

“Having those direct and indirect jobs created by this project is fantastic.”

The project is expected to include six metro stations, two of which will be within the airport’s boundaries.

It also includes an interchange at St Marys to link the line up with the existing suburban railway system.

It currently takes about 50 minutes riding on existing rail to get from St Marys to Central Station in the CBD.

“What that’s going towards is about six kilometres more tunnelling than we initially envisaged, and putting train stations like St Marys underground,” Mr Tudge said.

While the government said construction would start this year, it has not given a date on exactly when shovels will hit the ground on the project.

-ABC