Likely opening date of Parramatta Light Rail revealed as testing forges ahead
The likely opening month of the Parramatta Light Rail can be revealed, following an exclusive ride-along on the new Parramatta Light Rail during testing. WATCH it being tested.
NSW
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The tram-doors of the Parramatta Light Rail are set to finally be thrown open to western Sydney passengers by the end of August, with testing on the project almost a fifth of the way through.
While both Transport Minister Jo Haylen and Transport for NSW secretary Josh Murray declined to put a specific date on the opening of the light rail beyond the “mid-year” forecast publicly committed to, The Telegraph can reveal it’s understood July or August are being targeted as the likely months where services will finally start.
The Telegraph can also reveal that testing on the project is 17 per cent completed, with about 340 of a required 2000 testing hours finished so far.
Trial runs on the $2.875 billion mega-project began in January this year, with the light rail travelling through the Parramatta CBD for the first time in 80 years last month.
It comes as The Daily Telegraph was given exclusive access to the new light rail, which will connect Westmead to Carlingford through the Parramatta CBD, during a test run this week.
Once services begin, trams will run from 5am to 1am every day, with a single 45-metre-long, 63-tonne vehicle able to carry 300 passengers.
Peak services – which will include a light rail every seven and a half minutes – will run from 7am to 7pm.
Each tram includes storage racks for bicycles and air conditioning, with Transport for NSW forecasting that 28,000 passengers will hop on the light rail each day by 2026 – including 16,000 a day using the station at bustling Church St alone.
The light rail has previously been dogged by delays and budget blow outs, with an initial opening for late 2023 pushed back until May 2024 which has now been shifted to mid-2024.
The 2022-2023 NSW budget also revealed the cost of the project had blown out by $475 million, taking its total price to more than $2.8 billion.
While planning approval has been given for stage two of the light rail — which will run from the Parramatta CBD to Sydney Olympic Park — the government is yet to reveal a start date more specific than before the 2027 state election, while the total cost and completion date are also unknown.
Transport Minister Jo Haylen said the government remained fully committed to stage two of the light rail, pointing to the $800m already put towards the project, which will fund early work and a new bridge which will eventually carry the light rail over Parramatta River between Wentworth Park and Melrose.
“We need to develop the business case so that we know what the long term investment will be. But we’re committed to delivering Parramatta Light Rail stage two because … you don’t build half a project. We want to connect all of Western Sydney and going all the way to Sydney Olympic Park is absolutely critical,” she said.
Ms Haylen said she had high hopes for the first stage of the rail.
“I think people will choose light rail. We know people love the opportunity that it provides.
It’s going to be an efficient corridor connecting so many parts of western Sydney all the way from Carlingford through to the CBD to Westmead, but also … it’s easy to get on and off, roll your bike on and off, (get on) with the kids in the pram,” she said.
The start of services on the track is dependent on how testing goes, with Transport secretary Mr Murray saying it had been a “very smooth take up” of testing so far.
Trial runs have been used to check if the rail route is clear of overhanging trees, as well as finding out if light-up displays are working inside the tram.
Emergency breaking is also being tested.
Mr Murray said about 600 applicants had applied for jobs as tram drivers on the Parramatta rail, with a workforce of 55 selected from that.
Transport for NSW will also launch a “big safety campaign” as the light rail starts to make its way through the CBD regularly, to get pedestrians and drivers used to the tracks finally being populated with trams.
Mr Murray said the return of the light rail to the Parramatta CBD and down famous eatery-scene Church Street had already surprised some punters.
“Even the late night diners, the crew tells me, have almost dropped their kebabs or their hamburgers (in shock) as they’ve seen this tram come past the CBD for the first time in 80 years,” he said.
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Originally published as Likely opening date of Parramatta Light Rail revealed as testing forges ahead
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