The Sydney light rail network (or Sydney Light Rail for the inner-city lines) is a

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

system serving the city of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The network consists of four passenger routes, the L1 Dulwich Hill, L2 Randwick, L3 Kingsford and L4 Westmead & Carlingford lines. It comprises 58 stops and a system length of approximately , making it the second largest light rail network in Australia behind the tram network in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria. The network is managed by

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is a Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government transport services and roads List of New South Wales government agencies, agency established on 1 November 2011. The agency is a different entity to the NSW ...

, with day-to-day operations contracted to

Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a France-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. Transdev was formed on 3 April 2011 via the merg ...

. In the 2023–24 financial year, 40.59 million passenger journeys were made on the network, equating to over 110,000 journeys per day.

History

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Sydney developed an extensive tram network, which grew to be the second largest in the Southern Hemisphere and second largest in

the Commonwealth ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

after

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The increasing rate of private car ownership, the perception that trams contributed to traffic congestion and the general rundown conditions of the network due to the lack of funding after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

led to the progressive replacement of tram services with buses, with the final section of the tram network closing on 25 February 1961. In the 1980s and 1990s, the inner city areas of

Darling Harbour Darling Harbour is a harbour and neighborhood adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central busines ...

and Pyrmont were the subject of an urban renewal program. In 1988 the

Sydney Monorail The Sydney Monorail (originally TNT Harbourlink and later Metro Monorail) was a single-loop monorail in Sydney, that connected Darling Harbour, Chinatown, Sydney, Chinatown and the Sydney central business district, Sydney central business and s ...

opened, connecting Darling Harbour to the

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

. With poor integration between the monorail and other transport modes and the increasing redevelopment of the Pyrmont peninsula – including the establishment of Sydney's first legal casino – it was decided to convert a disused section of the

Metropolitan Goods railway line Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

into a light rail line. A section of track between Pyrmont and Haymarket was upgraded and a new on-street section was built to link the line to

Central station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

. The line was set up as a public-private partnership. It opened in August 1997, running between Central Station and

Wentworth Park Wentworth Park is a park near the suburbs of Glebe and Ultimo in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The park contains several multi-purpose sporting pitches, cricket nets and a number of fitness installations. There is a playground in the s ...

, Pyrmont. The private owner soon made proposals for a western extension continuing along the disused goods line, plus a new line through the city centre from Central to

Circular Quay Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping terminal, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on the northern edge of the ...

. The western extension opened in 2000, terminating at Lilyfield, but the company was unsuccessful in its attempts to develop a CBD line, which saw the development of light rail stagnate for the remainder of the decade. By contrast, the 2010s saw major expansion and reform of light rail in Sydney including the announcement and delivery of multiple new infrastructure projects, integration of ticketing with the city's other transport modes, the introduction of new trams and the transfer of the network to full public ownership. This coincided with broader investment in urban railways across Sydney and Australia, with the state transport minister in 2020 labelling Sydney a "train city" in reference to the various rail modes in the city.

Ownership and operation

Public-private partnership

In March 1994, the Sydney Light Rail Company (SLRC) was formed. SLRC was awarded a 30-year concession to operate the light rail system until February 2028 when ownership would pass to the

New South Wales Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

. The contract gave the company significant control over the commercial arrangements relating to future extensions or interconnecting lines. Operation of the line was contracted to TNT Transit Systems, which also owned the

. The SLRC purchased TNT Transit Systems in August 1998 as part of a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with CGEA Transport. This resulted in CGEA Transport taking over the light rail operating contract. CGEA Transport and its successors have operated the inner city light rail network ever since. In early 2001, Connex (renamed from CGEA Transport in 1999) sold its share of the monorail to the SLRC, bringing the monorail and light rail under unified ownership and leading to the formation of Metro Transport Sydney. The New South Wales Government purchased Metro Transport Sydney in March 2012, and the company was placed under the control of

. The purchase removed the contractual restrictions on expanding the light rail system and allowed the government to dismantle the monorail, assisting its plans to redevelop the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Government ownership

From 1 July 2013, the Metro Light Rail brand was phased out as part of a broader rebranding and reorganisation of public transport services in New South Wales. The process of shutting down Metro Transport Sydney and transferring assets to

was completed in September 2014. Following the announcement of the CBD and South East Light Rail, the government decided to group the contract covering the construction of the new line with the operation and maintenance of both lines of the inner city network. In December 2014, Transport for NSW awarded the contract to the ALTRAC Light Rail consortium. This saw Transdev Sydney, the operator under the previous contract, continue to operate and maintain the network as part of the consortium.Delivering an integrated light rail system: ALTRAC takes over operation of inner west light rail
Transport for NSW 2 July 2015 The operating contract commenced on 1 July 2015 and runs until 2034. After taking control of the Inner West Light Rail and announcing the CBD and South East Light Rail, the government also moved to establish a separate network centred around the Western Sydney suburb of

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

. Transdev was contracted to operate the Parramatta network as part of the Great River City Light Rail consortium. This contract runs for eight years from construction completion, with a possible extension of up to an additional ten years.

Operations

Lines

Sydney's light rail network consists of: *

Inner West Light Rail The Inner West Light Rail is a light rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, running from Central railway station, Sydney, Central railway station through the Inner West to Dulwich Hill railway station, Dulwich Hill and serving 23 sto ...

– serviced by L1 Dulwich Hill Line *

CBD and South East Light Rail The CBD and South East Light Rail is a pair of Light rail in Sydney, light rail lines running between Sydney CBD, Sydney's central business district (CBD) and the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), south-eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Austr ...

– serviced by L2 Randwick Line and L3 Kingsford Line * Parramatta Light Rail - serviced by L4 Westmead and Carlingford Line * , ,

L1 Dulwich Hill Line

, The L1 Dulwich Hill Line is the network's original passenger route, which first commenced in August 1997. It operates along the Inner West Light Rail between

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

and Dulwich Hill, stopping at 23 stops along the route. It connects Sydney's Inner West with the Pyrmont peninsula, Darling Harbour and the southern end of the

. The majority of the Inner West Light Rail line is along the alignment of a former freight railway line, with a short on-street section at the city end. The line opened between Central railway station in the city and Wentworth Park, Pyrmont on 11 August 1997, then extended west to Lilyfield in August 2000, and then southwest to Dulwich Hill in March 2014. From late October 2021 to February 2022, services were replaced by buses after major cracks were found in all 12 Urbos 3 trams serving the line. Limited service was then restored with borrowed Citadis trams from the CBD and South East Light Rail.

L2 Randwick & L3 Kingsford Lines

The L2 Randwick Line and L3 Kingsford Line are Sydney's newest passenger routes on the Sydney light rail network. L2 Randwick Line services commenced on 14 December 2019, while L3 Kingsford Line services commenced operations on 3 April 2020.Sydney’s new light rail is now open from Circular Quay to Kingsford
Transport for NSW 3 April 2020 They operate on the

, between

at the northern end of the city centre to Central Station at the southern end, then continuing to the south-eastern suburbs. CBD and South East Light Rail were built to reduce bus congestion in the CBD and provide higher capacity public transport to the

Sydney Football Stadium Sydney Football Stadium may refer to: * Sydney Football Stadium (1988), the original stadium which was demolished in 2019. * Sydney Football Stadium (2022) Sydney Football Stadium, currently known as Allianz Stadium for sponsorship reasons, i ...

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

Randwick Racecourse Royal Randwick Racecourse is a racecourse for horse racing located in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Randwick Racecourse is Crown Land leased to the Australian Turf Club and known to many Sydney r ...

and the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

, which were previously served only by buses. In contrast to the Inner West Light Rail, the line is mostly on-street and follows a similar path to routes used by the former tramway network. Major construction began in October 2015.

L4 Westmead and Carlingford line

, , Parramatta Light Rail is the name given to two lines that converge on 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 ...

centre of

. These lines will have no connection to the Inner West or CBD and South East lines. The first line runs from Carlingford to Westmead via the Parramatta CBD. It includes the conversion of most of the former heavy rail Carlingford line to light rail standards. Construction began in 2018 and was opened to the public on 20 December 2024. The preferred route for the second line was announced in October 2017. This line branches from the first line 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 Parramatta. ...

and travels through Ermington, Melrose Park, Wentworth Point and on to the

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 in Australia, local government area of the City of Parramatta, City of Parramatta Council. It i ...

events precinct.

Under construction

In February 2024, Stage 2 of the Parramatta Light Rail linking Parramatta to Sydney Olympic Park via Rydalmere, Melrose Park and Wentworth Point received planning approval after the New South Wales Government invested $200 million to expedite planning processes for the project in its 202324 state budget.

Rolling stock

All services on the Inner West Light Rail were previously operated by a single class of tram. A second class was introduced to operate services on the CBD and South East Light Rail. All vehicles to have operated on the system have been articulated, low floor and bi-directional. The system uses

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

track and 750

volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, Voltage#Galvani potential vs. electrochemical potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units, International System of Uni ...

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional electric current, flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor (material), conductor such as a wire, but can also flow throug ...

electrification. Both lines use different specifications on a range of measures including gaps between platforms and carriages, height and width of the actual track, clearances between the track corridor and its surrounds, and distance between the back wheels of the trams. As a result, Urbos 3 trams used on the Inner West Light Rail (L1 Dulwich Hill) line are unable to serve on the CBD and South East Light Rail (L2 Randwick and L3 Kingsford) lines However, Citadis 305 trams used on the CBD and South East Light Rail are able to run on the Inner West Light Rail as the vehicles are narrower. This was to allow the fleet to access the Lilyfield maintenance centre via the Inner West Light Rail. This also allowed for Citadis trams to be used for L1 Dulwich Hill services on the Inner West Light Rail.

Urbos 3 & Urbos 100

Parramatta Light Rail CAF Urbos 100 2167

Inner West Light Rail

Following the extension of the Inner West Light Rail to Dulwich Hill, more rolling stock was needed to support services and run alongside the Variotrams that had been providing services on the line since the first section opened in 1997. A tender for six Urbos 3s was awarded to

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (Grupo CAF, ) is a Spanish publicly listed company which manufactures railway vehicles and equipment and buses through its Solaris Bus & Coach subsidiary. It is based in Beasain, Basque Autonomous Comm ...

(CAF) in August 2012. The first unit arrived in Sydney on 19 December 2013 and entered service on 24 July 2014.First new light rail vehicle on the tracks as customer trips pass 1.5 million
, ''Transport for NSW'', Retrieved 23 July 2014 All were in service by August, allowing the leased Urbos 2s to be returned to Spain. On 11 October 2013, the Government announced an order for six additional Urbos 3s to replace the Variotrams. All Urbos 3s from the additional order had entered service by the end of June 2015. The Urbos 3s are approximately long and feature two double and two single doors on each side. The seats on the first batch are generally in the transverse configuration – at 90 degrees to the sides of the vehicle. The second batch replace some of the transverse seats with longitudinal seating, providing more standing room. Digital voice announcements and internal dot-matrix displays provide information about the next stop. They have a standard capacity of 206 passengers and a crush capacity of 272. The vehicles are numbered 2112, 2114–2124. 2113 was skipped due to superstition, particularly among the Chinese who travel to the Star casino by light rail, about numbers ending in 13. In June 2021, a contract with CAF for four Urbos 100 (a variant on the Urbos 3) five-module unit was secured. On 28 October 2021, service was suspended on the Inner West Light Rail after cracking in welds was discovered in some of the Urbos 3 vehicles during routine inspections.

Parramatta Light Rail

Thirteen Urbos 100 carriages were procured for the first stage of the Parramatta Light Rail. Each tram is long and consist of seven modules. These vehicles will support wire-free operation using batteries, which will be utilised on the on-street sections of the line around Parramatta and Westmead.

Citadis 305

As part of the winning consortium to build and operate the CBD and South East Light Rail,

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

supplied sixty Citadis 305 trams. Each vehicle consists of five sections, and they are coupled together to operate in pairs. Original plans for the line intended for the trams to be approximately long and operate as single units. Wire-free operation in a section of George Street between Bathurst Street and

was to be achieved via battery storage. In December 2014, it was announced that Alstom's

proprietary {{Short pages monitor

Ticketing and fares

The smartcard-based

Opal card Opal is a Proximity card, contactless smartcard automated fare collection, fare collection system for public transport services in the greater Sydney area. Operation of the Opal system is managed by Transport for NSW. First launched in late 2012 ...

ticketing system, which was introduced to the network on 1 December 2014, is valid on metro, train, bus, ferry and light rail services. Different fares apply for these modes, except that the same fares apply to light rail and buses. However, they are treated as separate modes for fare calculation purposes. Light rail stops feature Opal top up machines that also sell Opal single trip tickets. The single trip tickets are more expensive than the standard Opal fare. They are only valid for travel on light rail and must be used on the day of purchase. The following table lists Opal fares for reusable smartcards and single trip tickets. ^ = $2.50 for Senior/Pensioner cardholders Fares are calculated using a straight line distance between the origin and destination stops. No two stops on the existing line are located more than from each other using this method, so the > band does not apply to light rail services. When it first opened, the Inner West Light Rail used its paper-based ticketing system. Paper tickets were originally sold from ticket machines on stop platforms but were later issued by conductors on board. During the 2010s, this system gradually merged with the broader Sydney ticketing system, culminating in the introduction of Opal and the withdrawal of all other tickets. This process was completed on 1 August 2016.

Potential extensions

Several transport corridors have significant potential to allow for the growth of the network beyond its current route structure.

Anzac Parade

The New South Wales Government's 2012 policy document entitled ''Sydney's Light Rail Future'' proposed investigating an extension of the CBD and South East Light Rail along the southern Anzac Parade corridor. By 2014, an initial investigation had commenced. Three potential options were examined; a extension to Maroubra Junction, a extension to Malabar and an extension to La Perouse. The government's 2018 ''Greater Sydney Services and Infrastructure Plan'' included a proposal for an extension to Maroubra Junction. The extension would however not be developed for at least 10 years.

The Bays Precinct

The Bays Precinct is a large waterfront area to the west of the Sydney CBD being proposed for urban renewal by the New South Wales Government. The southern part of the precinct is served by the existing Inner West Light Rail. A planning document released by the government in October 2015 suggested light rail could be extended to the northern part of the precinct, possibly using the

Glebe Island Bridge The Glebe Island Bridge is a heritage-listed disused swing Allan truss road bridge that carried Victoria Road (as Bank Street) across Johnstons Bay, located in the inner city Sydney suburb of Pyrmont, New South Wales, Australia. The br ...

. The government's 2018 ''Greater Sydney Services and Infrastructure Plan'' included a proposal for a new line from Leichhardt North to Pyrmont via The Bays Precinct and the Glebe Island Bridge. It would connect with the existing Inner West Light Rail at both ends. The line would not be developed for at least 10 years.

Parramatta Light Rail extensions

The New South Wales Government's 2012 policy document entitled ''Sydney's Light Rail Future'' proposed investigating a Western Sydney light rail network. This led to several corridors being investigated in the early planning stages of the Parramatta Light Rail project. The final corridors selected for development were announced in 2015. In early 2017, Transport for NSW had begun an investigation into an extension of the Parramatta Light Rail from Carlingford to Epping. The government's 2018 ''Greater Sydney Services and Infrastructure Plan'' proposed investigating unspecified extensions to the network. The extensions would not be developed for at least 10 years. In 2024, the NSW Legislative Council Inquiry into Current and future public transport needs in Western Sydney recommended "that the Government urgently investigate extending Stage 2 of the Parramatta Light Rail project so that the line no longer terminates at the Carter Street precinct but continues from there to terminate at Lidcombe railway station". This recommendation has been endorsed by Cumberland Council and public transport advocacy groups such as EcoTransit Sydney. In September 2024, the Minns Labor Government committed $2.1 billion to stage two of Parramatta Light Rail to be routed through Melrose Park and Wentworth Point with stops in

, Ermington and

Camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in tropical and subtropical areas in East Asia, eastern and South Asia, southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are ...

Green Square and Parramatta Road

In 2012, the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the Local government in Australia, local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament ...

Council recommended that a Light Rail link be built from the city to Green Square, to service the commercial and residential developments being built in the area, which is expected to become Australia's most densely populated precinct. The council has spent more than $30 million buying land for a light rail corridor. In July 2015, New South Wales Transport Minister

Andrew Constance Andrew James Constance (born 31 October 1973) is an Australian politician who represented Electoral district of Bega, Bega for the Liberal Party of Australia (New South Wales Division), Liberal Party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly ...

stated that the area was likely to be served by a light rail link in the future. This led to a decision in October by the City of Sydney to allocate $445,000 to develop plans for a light rail line from the city to Green Square. The council estimated a link would cost $350–500 million to build. In 2023, the City of Sydney restated this intention in its draft 'Access Strategy', along with plans to extend the system further down George Street and Broadway, towards the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. No formal announcements or works have begun. In June 2024, ALTRAC proposed a plan for a new light rail corridor between Green Square and Leichhardt via Central.

Bondi

In 2011,

Waverley Council Waverley Council is a Local government in Australia, Local government area in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. First incorporated on 16 June 1859 as the Municipality of Waverley, ...

advocated for the extension of the light rail network to link the current infrastructure to Bondi Junction and Bondi Beach. The council commissioned

AECOM AECOM (, ; formerly AECOM Technology Corporation; stylised A''Ξ''COM) is an American multinational infrastructure consulting firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company's official name from 1990–2015 was AECOM Technology Corporation, ...

to undertake a feasibility assessment of the reintroduction of light rail on the corridor between Bondi Beach and Bondi Junction (Stage 1) and onto the CBD (Stage 2) to achieve mass transit of passengers and requested Transport for NSW consider the CBD to Bondi Beach corridor as a priority route in the Sydney Light Rail Plan.

References

External links

Official Site

Transdev Sydney Official SiteInformation about the extensionsTicketing information
{{Transdev Transdev 750 V DC railway electrification Railway lines opened in 1997 1997 establishments in Australia