Inner west light rail shut for up to 18 months after cracks found in trams

As Sydney’s inner west trams are shut down for up to 18 months to repair cracks in carriages, it has been revealed the UK had to take similar carriages offline earlier this year.

Then-premier Barry O’Farrell and Strathfield MP Charles Casuscelli ride the first tram on the line in 2014.

Sydney’s inner west light rail has been shut down for up to 18 months after cracking was found in all 12 vehicles.

The inner west line runs from Central station to Dulwich Hill via The Star and Lilyfield. The CBD to Randwick and Kingsford line is unaffected.

Transport Minister Rob Stokes said the issue was worse than authorities originally thought after news of the cracks was made public last week.

The 5.6km addition to Sydney’s light rail network will run along the former Rozelle freight rail corridor, adding nine new light rail stops between Lilyfield and Dulwich Hill.

“I’ve just come from a briefing earlier this afternoon with Transport for NSW where I was advised that the inner west light rail fleet will be decommissioned for up to 18 months,” Mr Stokes said.

“I want to stress this is the worst-case scenario.”

Mr Stokes said he expected the issue to be fixed sooner, and buses would replace light rail in the months ahead.

The “design flaw” cracks in the wheel arches of the body of the trams were found during inspections and were present in all vehicles.

It can be revealed Transport for NSW officials began inspecting the inner west trams after the same Urbos 3 carriages were taken offline in the UK five months ago following the discovery of a crack on the chassis of one of the vehicles.

West Midlands Metro, which runs the service between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, removed all of its 21 trams for inspection in June.

Transport Minister Rob Stokes has foreshadowed the possibility of legal action over the trams. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Swift

While the Spanish manufacturer CAF is understood to have informed Transport for NSW officials that the UK problem was an isolated incident, the department instructed its engineers to conduct an examination which led to the discovery of the cracks in Sydney trams.

It is understood the cracks are being linked to bowing from the spacing of the suspension, which is designed to enable the carriages to sit as low to the ground as possible.

Talks will be held on Friday night between Transport for NSW officials and their Birmingham counterparts about the issue.

Transport officials are also alerting overseas jurisdictions using the Urbos 3 trams, including Israel which recently purchased 24.

Other countries using the trams include Belgium, Norway and Taiwan.

Authorities are also investigating the Newcastle and Canberra light rail systems, which uses the same trams. The Sydney CBD light rail service is uninterrupted.

“This is likely to be a problem that has profound global consequences,” Mr Stokes said, adding that the government expected the contractor to meet all costs of repairing the fleet, and there may be “legal consequences” down the line.

The dramatic length of the inner west shutdown comes just days after authorities originally predicted the line would be decommissioned for just a month.

The inner west light rail in its current form was opened in 2014 and uses a different set of trams to the CBD line — meaning trams cannot be used interchangeably.

Commuters on the inner west line could be in for a longer journey in the next 18 months as buses replace the light rail service.