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The Parramatta Light Rail (often unofficially referred to as the Western Sydney Light Rail) is a project for a light rail line in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
,
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, Australia, which is under construction and due to start passenger services in 2024. The line will run from Westmead to Carlingford via the
Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...
centre of
Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...
. The initial announcement of the project also included an eastern branch from
Camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controve ...
to Strathfield. Plans to construct this branch were deferred in February 2017, and in October the original plans were replaced with a redesigned and truncated route to
Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta Council. It is commonly known as Olympic Park but officially ...
. The project will add to
light rail in Sydney The Sydney light rail network (or Sydney Light Rail) is a light rail system serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The network currently consists of three passenger routes, the L1 Dulwich Hill, L2 Randwick and L3 Kingsford l ...
but the new line will be completely separated from the existing lines. It is being managed by
Transport for NSW Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, and pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is an agency of the New South Wales Government established on 1 November 2011, and is the leading transport and roads agency in New South Wales ...
.


Design

The routes will begin at Westmead before proceeding east to Camellia or Rydalmere via North Parramatta and the Parramatta CBD. At Camellia/Rydalmere the two routes split. The stage 1 route goes north to Carlingford, while the stage 2 route continues east to Sydney Olympic Park.


Stage 1 (main route through Parramatta and branch to Carlingford)

The stage 1 route was announced on 17 February 2017. The stage 1 route runs between Westmead and Carlingford via North Parramatta, the Parramatta CBD, Camellia, Rydalmere, Dundas and Telopea. It includes sixteen stops along a route. It includes two wire-free sections—one between Westmead and Cumberland Hospital—and another between Prince Alfred Square and Tramway Avenue. The maintenance and stabling facility will be located east of
Rosehill Racecourse The Rosehill Gardens Racecourse is located in the Western Sydney suburb of Rosehill, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is operated by the Australian Turf Club. Rosehill holds horse races for thoroughbred gallopers on a grass s ...
. Trams will access the facility via a short branch line that uses the alignment of the
Sandown railway line The Sandown Line is a short former industrial railway line in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It began life as the Bennett's Railway, opening on 17 November 1888. The line diverges from the Carlingford line just so ...
. The Environmental Impact Statement for stage 1 was released in August 2017. Planning approval was granted in May 2018. The stops are: ,


Stage 2 (branch to Sydney Olympic Park)

, The second branch of the light rail continues east to Sydney Olympic Park. There are two options being considered for the connection to the stage 1 route. The first option would utilise the
Carlingford railway line The Carlingford railway line was a railway line in Sydney, Australia. It was opened from Clyde to Subiaco (later renamed Camellia) in January 1885, then by means of the construction of a bridge across the Parramatta River, to Carlingford in ...
(and stage 1) corridor over the Parramatta River to Rydalmere, where it would then branch. The second option would leave the main stage 1 route at Camellia and utilise the branch line built to provide access to the tram depot. It would continue via the Sandown railway line corridor and Grand Avenue, then cross the Parramatta River just east of
Rydalmere ferry wharf Rydalmere ferry wharf is located on the northern side of the Parramatta River serving the Sydney suburb of Rydalmere. History Rydalmere wharf was opened in December 1993, when ferry services resumed operating between Meadowbank and Parramat ...
. Both versions of the route then continue via Ermington and Melrose Park, cross back to the south of the Parramatta River, pass through Wentworth Point and terminate at Sydney Olympic Park. The stage 2 route is around nine kilometres (six miles) long and will include ten to twelve stops. The second option is shown as the planned route on the Parramatta Light Rail website. The original plans for this branch followed a route similar to that taken by Grand Avenue through Camellia before crossing the Duck River, passing through Newington, crossing Haslams Creek, serving Sydney Olympic Park and terminating at the major transport hub of Strathfield.


Construction

Carlingford and
Sandown railway line The Sandown Line is a short former industrial railway line in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It began life as the Bennett's Railway, opening on 17 November 1888. The line diverges from the Carlingford line just so ...
s. The section of the Carlingford line to be converted to light rail is highlighted."> , ,
In November 2017, a CPB Contractors/ Downer Group joint venture and John Holland were shortlisted to build stage 1. At the same time, three consortia were shortlisted to supply the rolling stock, maintain the infrastructure and operate the services: *Connecting Parramatta: John Holland,
Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational corporation, multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the A ...
and
Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the ...
*Greater Parramatta:
Downer Rail Downer Rail is a business unit within the Downer Group. As well as manufacturing and maintaining railway rolling stock it holds maintenance contracts to maintain rail infrastructure. The head office is located in North Ryde. History The E ...
,
Keolis Downer Keolis Downer is a joint venture between Keolis, the largest private sector French transport group, and Downer Rail, an Australian railway engineering company, that operates bus and tram services in Australia. History In June 2009, the Victo ...
, Downer Group,
Ansaldo Ansaldo Energia S.p.A. is an Italian power engineering company. It is based in Genoa, Italy. The absorbed parent company, Gio. Ansaldo & C., started in 1853. It was taken over by Leonardo S.p.A. In 2011, Leonardo S.p.A. sold 45% stake in A ...
and
CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese rolling stock manufacturer and a division of the CRRC. While the CRV emerged in 2002, the company's roots date back to the establishment of the Changchun Car Company in 1954. The company be ...
*Great River City Light Rail:
Transdev Australasia Transdev Australasia is an operator of bus, ferry, light rail and rail services in Australia and New Zealand. It is a subsidiary of French-based, international Transdev. It was formed in 2013 by grouping the operations of Veolia Transport Aust ...
, CAF and
Laing O'Rourke Laing O'Rourke is a multinational construction company headquartered in Dartford, England. It was founded in 1978 by Ray O'Rourke. It is the largest privately owned construction company in the United Kingdom. History The company was founded by ...
The winning bidders were announced in December 2018. The CPB/Downer joint venture will build the majority of the infrastructure, while Great River City Light Rail will build the depot, light rail stops and power systems, supply the vehicles and operate the network. The total budget for stage 1 is 2.4 
billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. * 1,000,000,000,000, i. ...
. Construction began in 2018, with the line expected to open in 2024. In July 2018, work commenced on site remediation at the Camelia depot site. Major construction was originally planned to start in June 2020. This was brought forward to January 2020 and the first sod was turned on 31 January 2020. Micro tunnelling will be used to build drainage and stormwater capacity underneath Church Street, to minimise construction impacts and disruptions in comparison to traditional pipeline construction such as excavating above the ground. The first micro-tunnel machine was launched in June 2020 from Centenary Square to Parramatta Town Hall and will connect to an existing pipe to extend stormwater capacity. A second micro-tunnel machine will also be launched from Centenary Square to Lennox Bridge to build drainage and stormwater capacity underneath Church Street. Major construction of Stage 1 commenced at Westmead in July 2020.


Traffic changes

Traffic changes were implemented along and surrounding the light rail alignment as part of enabling works.


Church Street

Church Street between Macquarie Street and Market Street became a pedestrian-only zone on 1 February 2020 prior to the start of major construction in June that year. This included "Eat Street", a section of Church Street between George Street and Lennox Bridge where restaurants and outdoor tables and seating are located. The NSW government previously stated that work on 'Eat Street' would not start until 2020. During construction, outdoor dining infrastructure along "Eat Street" would be removed and construction hoarding would be erected. The initial plan was, between 1 November to 31 January each year, 'Eat Street' would benefit from a construction 'grace period', when construction hoardings would be removed and outdoor tables and seating would be temporarily reintroduced. This was to ensure that business owners, diners, tourists and shoppers do not experience constant construction works during the busy holiday season. However, after consulting with the Parramatta Light Rail Business Reference Group and Eat Street businesses, the plan was changed to 'fast tracking' the works during the initial grace period and delaying the grace period. This would allow major construction to be completed earlier (scheduled on August 2021), followed by a delayed grace period, before installation of stops, testing and commissioning begins. The "Eat Street" reopened to outdoor dining in October 2021 following the lifting of
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...
lockdown restrictions. Church Street between Barney Street and Victoria Road was closed to traffic on 3 July 2020. Bus services along Church Street were redirected to travel along O'Connell Street.


George Street

On 29 November 2019, George Street between O'Connell Street and Harris/Macarthur Street was converted from the existing one-way eastbound configuration into two-way traffic. The parking and the travel lanes along the southern side of George Street were temporarily removed one week prior, to allow eastbound motorists to get used to travelling on the northern side of George Street. The conversion of George Street to two-way traffic is to offset the loss of westbound lanes on Macquarie Street, which is along the light rail alignment.


O'Connell Street

In June 2020, works to widen O'Connell Street to four lanes between Barney Street and Albert Street were completed. The intersection of O'Connell Street and Barney Street was also reconstructed to allow continuous flow between both roads.


Bus Service changes

After Church Street closed on 1 February 2020, the Parramatta free shuttle service 900 ran on a modified route, running along George Street instead of Macquarie Street.


Railway line closures

The northern branch to Carlingford will reuse most of the
Carlingford railway line The Carlingford railway line was a railway line in Sydney, Australia. It was opened from Clyde to Subiaco (later renamed Camellia) in January 1885, then by means of the construction of a bridge across the Parramatta River, to Carlingford in ...
, which closed on 5 January 2020. The closure included
Rosehill railway station Rosehill railway station is a disused railway station in Sydney, Australia that is located next to Rosehill Gardens Racecourse. It was open between 1888 and 2020. It served passengers on the Sandown railway line until 1991, the Carlingford li ...
, located between Clyde and Camellia, which will not be served by the light rail project. The level crossing across Parramatta Road was also removed later that month. The Carlingford line was single track for most of its length, had shorter platforms than other lines in Sydney and had long been seen as under-utilised. Patronage declined from 446,000 journeys in 2001 to 260,000 journeys in 2014. 2016-17 patronage figures based on Opal card tap on and off data recorded 511,000 journeys on the line during the year. This placed the line last among all train lines in the Opal network. Various modification schemes to revitalise the line had been proposed. ''Action for Transport 2010'', a New South Wales Government plan released in 1998, included the Parramatta Rail Link; a heavy rail line from Parramatta to Chatswood that would have utilised the Carlingford line between Camellia and Carlingford. As part of the CityRail Clearways Project announced in 2004, a passing loop was to have been built at
Rydalmere Rydalmere ''(formerly "Field of Mars")'' is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rydalmere is approximately 21 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parram ...
, enabling a more frequent service. Neither scheme came to fruition. The
Sandown railway line The Sandown Line is a short former industrial railway line in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It began life as the Bennett's Railway, opening on 17 November 1888. The line diverges from the Carlingford line just so ...
was officially closed in June 2019 and removal of the line and tracks began in July 2019. This 1.5 kilometre line diverged from the Carlingford line at Camellia and ran close to the southern bank of the Parramatta River. Passenger services had ceased in December 1991, though the line's Rosehill platform remained in use for special charters, while freight trains ceased in June 2010 when trains from the
Clyde Refinery The Clyde Refinery was a crude oil refinery located in Clyde, New South Wales, Australia, operating between 1925 and 2013. At the time of its closure it had a refinery capacity of and was the oldest operating oil refinery in Australia. It was ...
last ran. The western end of the Sandown line will be used by the light rail to provide access to a tram stabling and maintenance facility.


Operation

Transdev will operate the network for eight years, with a possible extension of up to an additional ten years. A document produced by Transport for NSW in February 2017 stated services would operate every 7.5 minutes throughout the day. However, a press release from December 2018 said services would operate every 7.5 minutes during peak periods, with frequencies at other times left unspecified.


Fleet

Stage 1 will be operated by a fleet of thirteen Urbos 3 vehicles built by
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (Grupo CAF, literally "Construction and Other Railway Services") is a Spanish publicly listed company which manufactures railway vehicles and equipment and buses through its Solaris Bus & Coach subsidi ...
(CAF). Urbos 3 vehicles are also already in operation on the
Dulwich Hill Line The Inner West Light Rail is a light rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, running from Central railway station through the Inner West to Dulwich Hill and serving 23 stops. It is the original line of the Sydney light rail network ...
(Inner West Light Rail). However, unlike the Dulwich Hill Line, the Urbos 3 vehicles on the Parramatta Light Rail will operate in seven modules and are long.


History


Parramatta - Duck River tramway

Between 1883 and 1943, a tramway, operated by
Sydney Ferries Limited Sydney Ferries Limited operated ferry services on Sydney Harbour from 1900 until June 1951. The company grew out of the North Shore Steam Ferry Company and took over smaller ferry operators to become the largest ferry operator in Sydney's his ...
, travelled from the Parramatta Park end of George Street to the mouth of the Duck River, where it originally connected with the company's Parramatta River ferry services to Sydney. The connecting ferries ceased in 1928; the line then primarily carried freight until it closed in March 1943. The Parramatta Light Rail will run via a similar route including via Tramway Avenue in Parramatta - named after the original line.


Route investigation

In 2013,
Parramatta City Council The City of Parramatta, also known as Parramatta Council, is a local government area located west of central Sydney in the Greater Western Sydney region. Parramatta Council is situated between the City of Ryde and Cumberland, where the Cumberla ...
published a $1 million feasibility study into a proposed Western Sydney Light Rail Network, designed to improve transport links throughout
Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...
and meet the challenges posed by the projected rise in population in the region in the coming decades. The study found that a light rail system was a viable solution to address the growing transport needs of Parramatta and
Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...
. The report estimated $20 million in funding was required to undertake a detailed investigation and to prepare a business case. It proposed that construction of the network would take place in several stages, the first of which comprised a route from
Macquarie Centre Macquarie Centre is a shopping centre in the suburb of Macquarie Park on the North Shore of Sydney and is located opposite the main campus of Macquarie University. Transport The Metro North West Line offers frequent services to Macquarie ...
to Castle Hill via
Eastwood Eastwood may refer to: Places ;in Australia *Eastwood, New South Wales **Eastwood railway station ** Electoral district of Eastwood *Eastwood, South Australia ;in Canada * Eastwood, Ontario *Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood ;in the P ...
,
Dundas Dundas may refer to: Places Australia * Dundas, New South Wales * Dundas, Queensland, a locality in the Somerset Region * Dundas, Tasmania * Dundas, Western Australia * Fort Dundas, a settlement in the Northern Territory 1824–1828 * Shire ...
, Parramatta and
Baulkham Hills Baulkham Hills is a suburb in the Hills District of Greater Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 30 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district within the local government area of The Hills Shire. Baulk ...
, with a branch from Parramatta to Westmead. Further extensions were proposed from Parramatta to
Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, hav ...
and
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...
. As part of its 2014/15 budget, the
New South Wales Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governme ...
announced Transport for NSW would investigate ten potential light rail routes in Western Sydney. The government allocated $400 million to ensure funds for detailed planning and construction of an initial project would be 'ready to go', should the investigations prove favourable. Six of the ten routes being investigated were eliminated from contention in October 2014. The routes investigated were: Of the final four routes, the Macquarie Park via Carlingford and the Strathfield via Olympic Park options were perceived as the frontrunners to be selected. The Macquarie Park route was supported by Parramatta,
Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came ...
and The Hills councils. The Strathfield route was supported by The WestLine Partnership, a lobby group consisting of businesses and organisations with a presence in the area. Auburn and
Canada Bay The Canada Bay is an estuarine bay on the Parramatta River, in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is the innermost inlet of the larger Hen and Chicken Bay. Two other bays to the north of Canada Bay are two ...
councils were later joined by Strathfield Council as members of the group. The Strathfield route passes through industrial areas of Sydney and the potential for these areas to generate funding and patronage was a key point of contention during the lobbying period. The WestLine Partnership suggested the Strathfield route could be partially financed via
value capture Value capture is a type of public financing that recovers some or all of the value that public infrastructure generates for private landowners. In many countries, the public sector is responsible for the infrastructure required to support urban dev ...
. Property developers building urban renewal projects along the line would provide a financial contribution to the government. The group also suggested building a branch from Newington to Rhodes and indicated its funding model could allow a route to Carlingford to be built as well. Supporters of the Macquarie Park route argued the needs of that corridor were more pressing and the Strathfield route would be poorly utilised in its early years.


Official announcement

The Parramatta Light Rail scheme was officially unveiled on 8 December 2015, when the government announced it had selected the Strathfield route plus a truncated version of the Macquarie Park route that ends at Carlingford. The two routes were proposed to converge at
Camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controve ...
and proceed through Parramatta to Westmead. The government's announcement included a $1 billion contribution towards the project. The government will also adopt the value capture approach advocated by The WestLine Partnership, by instigating an infrastructure contribution on new residential developments along the route. The revenue raised by the levy will be used to help fund the light rail and other infrastructure for the area. The government's investigations into the value capture process held up the announcement of the preferred route but would reportedly have allowed the two lines to be built together. The state government will also explore funding contributions from the federal and local tiers of government. The convenor of The partnership stated that the light rail project's funding model would be used as a test case for funding future infrastructure projects. Construction of the lines was expected to commence in late 2018 but there was no announcement of an expected completion date or a total budget for the project. An early estimate from January 2016 put the total cost at $3.51 billion.


Deferral and redesign of the eastern branch

In August 2016, Transport for NSW noted the project could be delivered in stages. A new metro line between the
Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or city centre is often referr ...
and Parramatta was announced in November 2016. The metro would adopt a similar route to the Strathfield branch of the light rail; media reports indicated the metro project would most likely cause the deferral of construction of this branch. This was confirmed in February 2017, when it was announced that the Westmead - Camellia section and the Carlingford branch would be built as stage 1 of the light rail project. Despite the deferral of construction, planning work for the Strathfield via Sydney Olympic Park branch continued. Media reports indicated the route could shift from running to the south of the
Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson. Se ...
to the north of the river and that the section from Sydney Olympic Park to Strathfield could be dropped. The preferred stage 2 route was announced in October 2017. The changes reported on by the media were confirmed. The redesigned route runs from either
Rydalmere Rydalmere ''(formerly "Field of Mars")'' is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rydalmere is approximately 21 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parram ...
or Camellia to Sydney Olympic Park via Ermington, Melrose Park and
Wentworth Point Wentworth Point is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, on the eastern edge of the local government area of City of Parramatta. It is on the we ...
. No details about the project's cost or construction dates were announced. As at October 2019 the final business case for stage 2 is still being considered. In November 2020, it was reported that the block of land at
Camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controve ...
, bought by the NSW government for $53.5 million for the stabling and maintenance depot, was effectively worthless because of high levels of soil contamination. The purchase was referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) because an internal investigation by the NSW transport department found the purchase of the land, for three times what the Valuer-General estimated it was worth, broke basic rules, and the land was bought from a developer without a valuation. The developer had bought the six-hectare parcel of land only months before, for $38 million.


References


External links


Parramatta Light Rail project website
{{Transdev Light rail in Sydney Proposed railway lines in Australia Transdev Tram and light rail transit systems under construction Transport infrastructure in Parramatta Camellia, New South Wales