First day test to Town Hall on Sydney’s $2.7b light rail
The first successful day test to Town Hall was carried out today on Sydney’s new light rail track as a tram rolled along George St — an event Sydneysiders are becoming accustomed to.
Central Sydney
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Soon the sight and noise of trams running down George St of a morning will be a common occurrence for Sydneysiders.
But for anyone under the age of 60, today was probably first time they would have seen one in action.
The first day test between Central Station and Town Hall for a tram on Sydney’s $2.7 billion light rail project was successfully carried out on Thursday, rolling in at about 10am.
“This milestone signals the next stage of testing of the light rail with daytime testing to soon extend all the way to Circular Quay,” Transport Minister Andrew Constance said.
“Trams are now going to be a common sight in the CBD — night and day, and I again remind people to be tram aware. Put your phone away, keep your head up and pay attention.”
However, it wasn’t the first time one of the 67m vehicles had reached that point on the 12km track during the day — after one was parked in front of Town Hall this month for a safety awareness campaign.
It comes almost a month to the day that the first successful night test was conducted between Alison Rd at Randwick and Town Hall.
That occasion marked the first time in 60 years since a tram arrived at the iconic Sydney location.
“It’s just great news for everyone and it’s a big sign that we’re not far off now,” Mr Constance said at the time.
“The trams through the city should never have been turned off in the first place. It was a very big public transport mistake made many decades ago.”
Night testing has also begun to Circular Quay, with day testing to extend beyond Town Hall in coming weeks.
