AUSTRALIA: Metro Transport Sydney has submitted proposals for two extensions at either end of Sydney's sole light rail line for consideration by the New South Wales government.
The most ambitious of the two would see a 4·1 km route created to link the present terminus at Central Station with Circular Quay via The Rocks, serving the East Darling Harbour redevelopment zone. The A$135m project would take trams underneath the Harbour Bridge and along Hickson Road and Sussex Street in the city centre, and the line could be open by 2011. This route is seen as preferable to earlier plans to close George Street to road traffic, according to NSW Transport Minister John Watkins.
At the other end of the present line, the government is considering a long-standing plan to extend from Lilyfield to Summer Hill, a distance of 3·7 km. This extension would use a recently-closed freight branch that served a grain terminal, which would itself be converted into a light rail station. The route could be open as soon as next year, at a projected cost of A$17m.
