AUSTRALIA: The 3·2 km five-stop light rail branch from Moore Park to Juniors Kingsford via Anzac Parade South was opened for revenue service on April 3, completing Sydney’s CBD & South East LRT network.
The branch is operated as route L3, running through from Juniors Kingsford to Circular Quay to give a total length of 12 km. Trams operate from 05.00 to 01.00 each day, with a headway of 8 to 12 min. In conjunction with route L2 from Randwick, this gives give a combined headway of 4 to 8 min on the common section from Moore Park to Circular Quay.
The network is worked by a fleet of 60 Alstom Citadis X05 five-section LRVs, which operate as 67 m long coupled pairs. The network is electrified at 750 V DC overhead, apart from the 2 km city centre section along George Street between Circular Quay and Town Hall where Alstom’s APS ground-level power supply is installed.
Construction of the CBD & South East LRT began in October 2015, with route L2 from Circular Quay to Moore Park and Randwick opening on December 14 2019. The network has been developed by the ALTRAC Light Rail consortium under a PPP concession valued at A$2·1bn, which provided four years for construction followed by 15 years of operation and maintenance. The consortium brings together Alstom, Transdev Sydney, Acciona Infrastructure Australia and Capella Capital, together with equity investors John Laing, First State Super and Acciona Concesiones.
Welcoming the opening of the Kingsford branch, NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said ‘the new light rail line L3 gives the South East a sustainable public transport system connecting people to and from the city’.
