Historic Public Transport Milestones for Sydney

Trams will carry passengers through Sydney’s streets for the first time in nearly 60 years when the CBD and South East Light Rail opens on Saturday, 14 December.

Member for Manly James Griffin welcomed the announcement of the start date for the first light rail service to run down George Street since 1961.

“The Light Rail is a big step towards expanding our city and will transform the way we live, work and go out in the city,” Mr Griffin said.

“Northern Beaches residents can interchange with the Light Rail via the ferry network at Circular Quay or catch the B-Line and hop on at Wynyard.

“Trams will be fare-free for the opening weekend so the community can ride the new light rail to celebrate this historic event.”

The first passenger services will start at 11am on Saturday and run between Circular Quay and Randwick until 1am. Services on the CBD and South East Light Rail will run from 5am to 1am every day of the week.

This week another historic milestone was made as the Sydney Metro completed the second harbor crossing, 40 metres below the harbor floor. It is the first of two tunnels being constructed as part of extending the North West Metro into the city and beyond to Bankstown in 2024.

The Sydney Metro will have the capacity of a train every two minutes in each direction under the Sydney CBD and will be able to move more people across the harbour in the busiest hour of the peak than the Harbour Bridge and Harbour Tunnel combined.

The future Beaches Link tunnel will allow Northern Beaches commuters to interchange with the Sydney Metro, and existing Sydney Trains network, with express buses to North Sydney, as well as interchange at Chatswood with the introduction of the Dee Why to Chatswood turn-up-and-go service which is in its early planning stages.

“The transport vision for Sydney is a positive one – a truly integrated road and public transport network fit for a global city,” Mr Griffin said.