Residents in western Sydney are a step closer to boarding the long awaited parramatta light rail system, with trams passing through the area's CBD overnight. The state government says it's a milestone for the multi-billion-dollar project, but local businesses say the construction phase has cost them dearly.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 The first light rail vehicle has come through the Parramatta CBD overnight, marking what
00:07 the state government says is a significant milestone in the project.
00:12 Now construction began on this line back in 2019 and the line, it will connect Carlingford
00:21 through the Parramatta CBD here with Westmead Hospital, connecting through key zones here
00:28 in the central part of Western Sydney.
00:31 It's the first time in 80 years that a tram or a light rail has passed through the CBD.
00:38 Parramatta used to have a tram system which closed down in the 1940s, but the state government
00:45 says that from mid-year we'll see 16,000 people each day being brought here into the CBD area.
00:54 We expect it to be done mid-year, obviously that will depend on how much testing can take
01:00 place and how successful that testing is, but we're well within the final stages of
01:06 this project being opened up to the public.
01:08 Now this area behind me looks relatively open now, but for the majority of the last few
01:13 years it's been barricaded and closed off and that has meant major losses for local
01:18 businesses.
01:19 They say they've been frustrated by delays to the timeline and they'd like to see some
01:23 compensation from the government.
01:25 Actually I own like three businesses around here, I have all the Expressmart, one here
01:29 and one in Phillip Street and the other side of Church Street, and they're all suffering.
01:35 One of them is completely dead, it became one of my best stores and it's just completely
01:39 dead.
01:40 Now this comes as planning continues for the stage two of the Parramatta light rail project.
01:45 Now that's going to connect the Parramatta CBD here with the Sydney Olympic Park and
01:49 several areas in between.
01:52 Planning is underway, construction hasn't begun on that, but it's expected to take several
01:56 years before we start to see real completions along that line.
02:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]