Regenerative urban transport: designing infrastructure for a changing climate

As Australia invests in a new era of public transport infrastructure, sustainability has become a defining principle, not a design afterthought. 

With population growth, climate volatility and shifting urban development patterns reshaping our cities, rail projects now have the potential to deliver more than just mobility. They must act as a catalyst to regenerate ecosystems, reduce carbon and enrich the communities they traverse.

At Hassell, we’re embedding sustainable strategies into every phase of rail infrastructure — from design and materials to energy use and climate resilience. Here are some of the innovations transforming how we design future-ready rail networks.

TARGETING CARBON NEUTRAL FROM DAY ONE 

The Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport project on Dharug Country in Western Sydney, Australia aims to be the country’s first carbon-neutral rail infrastructure from construction through operation. 

Our design leverages passive strategies — maximising daylight, natural ventilation and minimising energy use. Open, permeable façades and skylights flood stations with natural light, while louvred elements and open entrances enable effective airflow. 

This 23-kilometre corridor of ecologically restored Cumberland Plain landscape — including six new stations — is not just a transport project, but a framework for a carbon-smart city.

In Perth, Bayswater Station is already setting a national benchmark as one of the few Australian railway stations to earn a 6-Star Green Star rating. Designed with sustainability at its core, the station features 190 rooftop solar panels, which reduce an estimated 93.8 tonnes of CO₂e emissions annually. It’s a clear example of how high-performance rail infrastructure can deliver meaningful environmental outcomes today, not just in future ambitions.

BUILDING SMARTER WITH LESS IMAPCT

Materials matter. On the Victoria Park to Canning Level Crossing Removal Project in Perth’s southern suburbs on Whadjuk Country, we’re working with the Armadale Line Upgrade Alliance to explore the use of recycled materials — including crushed concrete for road base and recycled plastics in non-structural station elements. While fire regulations currently limit the widespread use of mass timber in rail, we’re contributing to research and trial efforts that could shift future possibilities. 

At St Mary’s Station on the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport line, a rigorous technical review has led to a significantly reduced footprint, cutting embodied carbon, improving land use, and enabling a generous public plaza that firmly anchors the station within its community setting. The project targets at least a 20% reduction in embodied carbon by prioritising low-carbon and high-recycled-content materials. 

GREENER RAIL FOR HEALTHIER CITIES 

Rail infrastructure can do more than connect cities — it can reconnect and restore ecosystems. The Sydney Metro Planting Trials at Hills Showground Station demonstrate how transport projects can regenerate biodiversity. In partnership with the University of Melbourne, Hassell introduced over 8,000 plants across 110 native species in a trial designed to attract pollinators and build climate resilience. This naturalistic, low-maintenance landscape is being monitored to guide future metro plantings, proving that station plazas can become thriving green spaces, not just thoroughfares. 

MORE THAN MOVEMENT: STATIONS AS SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Well-designed stations are not just transit points — they’re social infrastructure. When thoughtfully embedded in their local context, they improve equity, access, safety and belonging. Hassell’s design (as part of the ActivUs Alliance) of the new station precincts for the Logan and Gold Coast Faster Rail project in South East Queensland prioritises public life: connecting people to employment opportunities, engaging people with their environments and uniting communities through places designed with people at their heart. Through a regenerative design lens, we’re delivering stations that respond to place, promote active transport and unlock broader social value.

Meanwhile, in Perth, the Level Crossing Removal Project will return over six hectares of previously inaccessible rail land to the public, creating a linear park rich in native ecology and community value. In both cases, green infrastructure becomes integral to placemaking, enhancing wellbeing, biodiversity and long-term environmental health.

DESIGNING FOR EVERYONE: PUTTING PEOPLE AT THE CENTRE

For Brisbane’s Cross River Rail, we focused on making the entire experience more inclusive, intuitive and accessible for everyone who uses it. Working with the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority, we helped establish an Accessibility Reference Group to involve people with lived experience early in the design process. Their insights shaped real outcomes — from better drop-off zones and clearer wayfinding to braille maps and improved access to every platform. It’s a reminder that designing with people, not just for them, creates transport systems that truly work for all.