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.
The Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Transport, Andrew Constance recently announced the start date for the first light rail service to run down George Street since 1961.
“Trams will be fare-free for the opening weekend so the community can ride the new light rail to celebrate this historic event,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“The new network will move up to 13,500 commuters an hour during peak time in both directions, replacing the conga line of buses which used to sit in traffic on George Street,” she said.
Ms Berejiklian said a coupled tram could hold up to 450 customers, the equivalent of nine standard buses.
Mr Constance said the first passenger services would start at 11am on Saturday (14 December) and run between Circular Quay and Randwick until 1am on 15 December.
“This is an exciting time and we expect a huge turnout at Circular Quay of people taking a ride on the new trams before regular services start on Monday,” Mr Constance said.
“With passenger services right around the corner it’s more important than ever for the community to pay attention to safety messages around trams,” he said.
Mr Constance said services on the CBD and South East Light Rail would run from 5am to 1am every day of the week, commencing Monday, 16 December.
