Light Rail in New South Wales

New South Wales has a small light rail network that is gradually expanding. There are 4 lines in operation, with 1 under construction and 1 in planning. Historically, Sydney operated an extensive tram network with routes ranging from the Northern Beaches to the CBD and Inner West. At its peak, the network was the largest in the southern hemisphere. From the mid-1950s the network was progressively dismantled and disappeared by the 1960s.

L1 Dulwich Hill Line

 * Main Article: L1 Dulwich Hill Light Rail

The L1 Dulwich Hill Line, also known as the L1 Inner-Western Line, is the first Light Rail system in New South Wales. It consists of 23 stations across a 12.8km route, beginning at Central and terminating at Dulwich Hill. The line began operation in August 1997 as the Metro Light Rail (MLR) and was privately owned by the Sydney Light Rail Company (SLRC).

In 2012, the state government purchased the company and gained ownership of the MLR as well as Sydney Monorail, also owned by SLRC at the time. With this acquisition, a line extension from Lilyfield to Dulwich Hill was built and opened in 2014, utilising the closed Goods Freight Line. The line was now called the L1 Dulwich Hill line with stations and rolling stock rebranded to the current 'red' TfNSW signage.

A fleet of CAF Urbos 3 sets currently operate on the Dulwich Hill Line. It replaced the original Variotrams and a fleet of leased Urbos 2 trams by 2015.

L2/L3 CBD & Southeast Line

 * Main Article: L2/L3 CBD and Southeast Light Rail

The L2/L3 CBD and Southeast Line is a light rail route that connects the City to the Eastern Suburbs. The 12km line consists of 19 light rail stops. The line starts at Circular Quay and heads south, splitting into two branches to Randwick (L2) and Kingsford (L3). The line is serviced by a fleet of 60, 5-carriage Alstom Citadis 305 sets, operating in two set formation.

Construction began in late 2015 with an original completion date of 2018. However, numerous challenges delayed the opening to 14th December 2019 for the L2 branch and 3rd April 2020 for the L3 branch.

Parramatta Light Rail

 * Main Article: Parramatta Light Rail

Parramatta Light Rail is the a light rail project currently in planning. Stage 1 features a 12km route containing 16 light rail stops between Westmead, Parramatta CBD and Carlingford. The line runs along part of the corridor occupied by the former T6 Carlingford Line, which has now been closed, with buses replacing it during construction. Stage 1 is currently in the early stages of construction.

Stage 2 will link Parramatta CBD and Olympic Park by Light Rail. This stage will begin construction upon completion of Stage 1 in 2023.

Newcastle Light Rail

 * 1-Newcastle-tram-edit.jpgMain Article: Newcastle Light Rail

Newcastle Light Rail is a light rail route that opened in early 2019. The 2km line contains 6 stations from Newcastle Interchange to Newcastle beach, and follows a similar path to the closed heavy rail line leading to Newcastle railway station.

The route is operated by a fleet of CAF Urbos 3 sets. Although similar to the L1 Dulwich Hill variant in terms of length and capacity, these units are uniquely capable of wire-free operation via an on-board battery system.

Tweed Light Rail

 * Main Article: Tweed Light Rail

Tweed Light Rail is a proposed Light rail line that would link Tweed Heads and Coolangatta (Queensland). The cross-state route is currently in planning and has received support from the NSW government and Gold Coast City Council.

Adtranz/Bombardier Variotram

 * 1024px-Metro_Light_Rail_liveried_tram_at_Central_Station.jpegMain Article: Adtranz Variotram

The Adtranz (now Bombardier) Variotram was a class of light rail vehicle that operated on the L1 Dulwich Hill Line from 1997 to 2015. The fleet consisted of seven trams manufactured in Victoria. The Variotrams were wide-body and featured a 100% low-floor design. Each set had a maximum capacity of 217 passengers, including 74 seated.

The Variotrams had a projected lifespan of 20 years. By 2012, the fleet was becoming more expensive to maintain, owing to a lack of spare parts. Partially in response to this, the government ordered a new fleet of CAF Urbos 3 sets that would replace the aging sets. For a brief period between 2014 and 2015, the Variotrams operated alongside leased Urbos 2 trams due to delays in manufacturing. However, by 2015 the last tram had been placed into storage.

CAF Urbos 2 and Urbos 3

 * 1024px-CAF_Urbos_2_tram,_operated_by_Transdev,_at_Central_Station.jpgMain Article: CAF Urbos 3

The Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) Urbos 3 is a current class of light rail vehicle operating in Sydney and Newcastle. It first entered service on the L1 Dulwich Hill Line in 2014, with a fleet of 12 sets delivered by the following year. A further 6 trams have operated on the Newcastle Light Rail line since 2019.

In conjunction with the Lilyfield to Dulwich Hill extension, a fleet of 12 CAF Urbos 3 trams were ordered in August 2012. However, due to delays in manufacturing, used Urbos 2 trams were leased from Spain to cope with increased demand following the extensions opening. These sets have since been returned.

Urbos 2 Fleet Numbers were 2108–2111.

Urbos 3 Fleet Numbers are 2112 and 2114–2124.

Alstom Citadis 305

 * 1024px-2019-09-16_Test_light_rail_train_on_George_Street,_Sydney.jpgMain Article: Alstom Citadis 305

The Alstom Citadis 305 is class of Light Rail Vehicle that operates exclusively on the L2/L3 CBD and Southeast lines. These sets will operate in a two-unit, 10 carriage formation, with each unit consisting of 5 carriages. A coupled set is 67m in length, making it the longest light rail vehicle anywhere in the world, and holds a maximum capacity of 450 passengers.