North West. Payments to private sector

The NSW government will make regular payments to the private sector for more than a decade to operate the planned $8.5 billion North West Rail Link as well as providing significant funds during construction of the project. Stations on the existing Epping to Chatswood rail line will be upgraded to run single deck trains.

Parramatta. Office building on the market

A six-level office building on the south-west corner of George and Smith streets is on the market. The building of 9535 square metres has large footplates of 1850 square metres. It is fully leased with an annual net income of $3.3 million approximately. Tenants include St George Bank back office facilities and Hanson Construction Materials head office.

North West. Hundreds at rail briefing

More than 320 people representing 170 national and international firms attended a North West Rail Link briefing on the multi-million dollar tender process to build the rail link. The overseas companies attending included those from the the UK, Spain,China, France and Italy.

Region. Award for UWS student

High calibre chemistry experiments by Abhishek Gupta, a University of Western Sydney student, may lead to better cancer detection. His work has been recognised by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, which recently awarded him its 2012 RACI Western Sydney Section Honours Prize for his Honours thesis which he completed while enrolled in the university’s Bachelor of medcial Science (Nanotechnology progem. Mr Gupta is now a PhD candidate at UWS.

Baulkham Hills. Resident wins top award

Baulkham Hills resident and Sydney Water employee, Michelle Jones, wins prestigious TAFE NSW State Medal for completing her study in Spatial Information Services. Spatial Information Services teaches how to use spatial system technologies such as land information systems and geographic information systems as well as automated mapping, facilities management systems. Michelle Jones works in Sydney Water’s business customer services section where she helps manage a database to support Sydney Water’s services to businesses. The annual TAFE NSW State Medals are awarded to students who achieve the highest marks across the state based on their academic results.