Sydney’s new light rail to be built in one go
NSW Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian has conceded there will be disruptions in Sydney’s CBD when George Street is dug up to build two light rail lines
Herald Sun (Melbourne)
SYDNEY- The lines linking Sydney’s Circular Quay to Central Station then on to Randwick will be built at the same time rather than in two stages, she confirmed on Thursday.
The eastern suburbs line to the Sydney Cricket Ground, University of NSW, Randwick Racecourse and Prince of Wales Hospital was initially tipped to be built before the more contentious CBD line.
But Ms Berejiklian said the lines were now being treated as one project, although they will be built in stages to minimize disruption.
The $1.6 billion line aims to reduce congestion in the city and give people a faster ride along George Street than buses.
The stretch of George Street between Bathurst and Hunter Streets – about 40 per cent of the major artery – will be closed to general traffic and opened to pedestrians.
Ms Berejiklian told Macquarie Radio the aim was to make sure people could use the whole line once it was completed.
“If you decided just to do George Street first you’d have thousands of people descending on Central and then having to move them.
“Similarly if you did the eastern bit first you’d have thousands of people at Central and not able to move them quickly enough down through George Street and other parts of the CBD.”
The minister said detailed modeling was underway to determine how to build the line as quickly as possible with minimal disruption.
“There will be disruptions, I won’t deny that, but we’re convinced that by planning it properly we can minimize that.”
She said work would get underway in 2014 and she hoped it would be up and running within five or six years from then.
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Video: Sydney’s Light Rail Future
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Video: Sydney Monorail to be torn down after 25 years in operation
Monorail opened in 1988
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Video: Sydney Monorail
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Sydney Existing Light Rail and Monorail Map
click map to enlarge
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Sydney’s commuter rail system
Click map to enlarge
CityRail is the commuter passenger rail service covering suburban Sydney and extending to the Hunter, Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands and South Coast regions.
The CityRail network is one of the world’s most complex.
An average of 1 million trips is made to and from 308 stations each weekday. The radial nature of the network itself makes the task of moving this number of people to and from work a real challenge.
Our fleet of over 1,816 carriages travel over 2,242km (1,393 miles) of track, across 888 bridges and through 46km (28.5 miles) of tunnels.
Each weekday, our fleet cover a distance of 115,156km (71,555 miles).
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Video: Sydney CityRail
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January 11, 2013
International