Sydney’s inner west light rail to resume in February

Services on Sydney’s inner west light rail will resume from February next year,with the state government to use trams from the CBD line to supplement the network until all 12 cracked trams are repaired by October.

Services on the inner west light rail were suspended in late October after cracks were discovered in the Spanish-built trams that run on the network.

The inner west light rail (L1) will begin running services as early as February.

The inner west light rail (L1) will begin running services as early as February.Louise Kennerley

While NSW Transport Minister Rob Stokes first estimated the repairs would take up to 18 months,he confirmed on Thursday that it would take about a year for it to be completed.

Services will first resume between Central and Lilyfield in February,and will be extended to Dulwich hill in the following months,he said.

“Having inner west trams fixed within a year of this shutdown provides certainty and assurance for the people of the inner west,” Mr Stokes said.

“Transport for NSW and its partners will restore services early next year using the CBD and South East trams.”

Minister for Transport and Roads Rob Stokes and Transport for NSW Chief Operations Officer Howard Collins provide an update on the west light rail.

Transport for NSW chief operations officer Howard Collins said four trams would operate every 15 minutes between Central and Lilyfield once the service resumed in early February.

He said he was “pretty confident” the government would meet its new timeline commitment.

“I’m pretty confident we are going to achieve this,95 per cent absolutely sure that we’re going to get there by February. We’ve just got to get those final things checked,” he said.

The 12 cracked trams will be repaired at a Pyrmont depot,which will be able to work on two vehicles at a time.

The timings and speed of the CBD trams running on the inner west line will be similar to that of the original trams,Mr Collins said.

“People want a tram,they don’t care whether it’s a tram from the eastern suburbs. We have reviewed this,we have looked at this intensely,” he said.

The government had originally cast doubt over whether the CBD trams could operate on the network,given their different design and wheel profile.

He said repairs to the cracked trams would involve cutting up the floors out of the vehicles,with new components added to prevent future cracking.

While theHeraldrevealed last week that Spanish manufacturer CAF had written to the government in November suggesting the cracks had been caused by the trams running through bends in the tracks at relative high speed,Mr Collins said no cause had been decided upon yet.

He again reiterated that he did not believe the NSW government would pay for the repairs.

Opposition transport spokeswoman Jo Haylen said while it was good news some services were returning,thousands of inner west residents would still have to wait months.

“Passengers shouldn’t be paying full fare for a shuttle service that’s less frequent and slower. If the government wants to provide half a light rail service,then the least they can do is also halve the fare,” Ms Haylen said.

“The government’s attempts to back away from its promise that the people of NSW wouldn’t have to pay a cent to fix this light rail fail should cause serious concern for taxpayers.”

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Tom Rabe is the WA political correspondent,based in Perth.

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