'We don't want a tragedy': Warning ahead of trams simulating full service

Trams will begin running every four to six minutes through the heart of Sydney within two weeks to simulate the $2.7 billion light rail line's timetable ahead of passenger services starting in December, prompting transport officials to warn people to be extra vigilant.

The government has also decided to delay major changes to bus services in Sydney's south-east until April, about four to six weeks after a branch of the light rail line to Kingsford opens.

A pedestrian crosses in front of a tram on George Street last week.Credit: Janie Barrett

Driver training is taking place using more than a dozen trams along the line from Randwick to Circular Quay, which is due to open to passengers in early December.

Transport for NSW's coordinator general Marg Prendergast said testing had shown there had been an increase in cases of poor pedestrian behaviour and vehicles blocking intersections as more of the 67-metre long tram sets ran along the line.

"We are seeing a few near misses. We don’t want to see a tragedy for the sake of being distracted by your mobile or trying to beat the tram at an intersection," she said.

Ms Prendergast warned further increases in the frequency of trams for the timetable simulation from mid-November raised the potential for crashes.

"Because we have had roads closed [for construction], we have had behaviours develop where people just don't expect anything to be running. We need people to realise that it is real, and you have to look both ways," she said.

The most common incidents are pedestrians stepping in front of trams – and in some cases people walking into the side of them – and cars blocking intersections, preventing trams from crossing.

Taxis and ride-sharing vehicles have also been stopping on the tracks, which is likely to result in firms using so-called geo-fencing to direct their customers to other pick-up locations.

Ms Prendergast, a 35-year veteran of the state's transport agencies, said the opening was a bigger challenge than the start of passenger services on Sydney's $7.3 billion Metro Northwest rail line in May, partly because crowd management plans had to be developed for every tram stop.

"It is the most complex operation I have ever seen – it's harder than the Olympics. The Olympics were two weeks and you could close anything," she said. "We have got this brand new bit of infrastructure and a major new operation about to start, running through the centre of a very live city."

Ms Prendergast said the first six months of operations would be treated as a chance to bed them in, which had been a key lesson from the opening of the metro rail line.

Part of the reason for delaying major changes to the bus network is that trams will not start running to Kingsford, and past the University of NSW on Anzac Parade, until March.

Express buses during peak periods will be maintained after the opening, but others are set for a shake-up due to the increase in capacity from trams.

The proposed changes to the bus network will be opened to community feedback.