What Parramatta light rail stops will look like from 2023
Images of the stops along the $2.4 billion Parramatta light rail have been released but public transport advocates looking beyond the gloss insist the project’s second stage should be funded.
NSW
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From Westmead Hospital to the high-rise apartments filling Carlingford, images of how the stops along Parramatta light rail’s first stage will look have been released but leaders continue to lobby for stage two to proceed.
Construction of the tracks on the 12km line are nearing completion and work on the 16 stops is imminent.
Transport Minister David Elliott said 99 per cent of the track had been laid.
“About 700 people have worked each day and night for more than one year to lay the
tracks for the new light rail network, which will change how the community travel and
connect to places across greater Parramatta in the future,’’ he said.
“The community will start to see the fencing being removed as improvement works
such as landscaping, road resurfacing, kerbing and footpath paving is complete.’’
Stage one of the Parramatta Light Rail will connect Westmead to Carlingford via the
Parramatta CBD, and is expected to start operating next year.
Parramatta Lord Mayor Donna Davis and NSW Opposition leader Chris Minns called for immediate investment in stage two after news it would likely be shelved in Tuesday’s budget.
“By 2036, there’ll be 29,000 new homes on the Parramatta light rail stage two route,’’ Cr Davis said.
“Twenty five thousand to 29,000 new homes that need public transport and they need that commitment now.
“There’s no use building that public transport once the people are already living here and struggling to get to work, to school, and to any other endeavours.’’
Business Western Sydney executive director David Borger echoed the funding plea and said the “communities in Parramatta and Sydney Olympic Park are losing their patience with broken transport promises and delays’’.
“We need to see the Federal Government take a bigger stake in the future of our cities and the funding of city-shaping infrastructure,’’ he said.
”The Federal Government has invested billions of dollars in the Western Sydney Airport and supporting infrastructure but what about the Central City around Parramatta and Sydney Olympic Park which has missed out?
“The new metro line from Westmead to the Sydney CBD and Parramatta light rail stage two could transform the geographical heart of Sydney but the Federal Government is missing in action in contributing to the cost of these projects.’’
Other projects that are taking priority across NSW include the $1 billion faster rail between Sydney and Newcastle. On Monday, the Prime Minister revealed he would allocate $3.3 billion of infrastructure towards NSW.
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Originally published as What Parramatta light rail stops will look like from 2023
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