Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 is moving ahead, with planning approval now granted for the megaproject for Western Sydney.

It comes after the NSW Labor Government invested $200 million in the 2023-24 NSW Budget to expedite the project’s planning processes so construction can begin this term of Parliament.

Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 will connect Parramatta CBD to Sydney Olympic Park via the growing communities of Camellia, Rydalmere, Ermington, Melrose Park and Wentworth Point.

The 10-kilometre extension will include 14 new light rail stops that will provide residents with a long- awaited public transport link and unlock future housing growth.

The approved light rail corridor includes alignment changes around Rydalmere that will make connections to the Rydalmere Ferry Wharf easier and improve travel times.

Passengers will be able to travel from Sydney Olympic Park to Camellia in around 30 minutes, and on to the Parramatta CBD in another 7 minutes.

Construction will be phased, with initial work to begin later this year on a new 320-metre public and active transport bridge over Parramatta River, between Melrose Park and Wentworth Point.

Procurement to deliver the $602.4 million bridge is underway, with the initial contract for enabling works expected to be awarded later this year. This is the first stage in delivering Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2, with main construction work on the bridge expected to start in 2025.

The bridge will connect the growing communities of Melrose Park and Wentworth Point, located north and south of the river. It will be the first significant bridge crossing over Parramatta River since the completion of the southbound Ryde Bridge in 1987 – nearly 40 years ago.

Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 will be part of Parramatta’s first tram network in over 80 years. Tram testing is currently underway on Parramatta Light Rail Stage 1 between Carlingford and Westmead via the Parramatta CBD.

Says NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen: “This is a major step forward for the city-shaping Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 project, meaning our growing communities in Western Sydney will be more connected than ever before.

“With around half of local residents and a third of local employees projected to live and work across the project corridor, this new track will serve a population of close to 280,000 by 2041.”

“Stage 2 will directly link residents in Parramatta to the Sydney Olympic Park precinct and give communities like Wentworth Point the transport they’ve been promised,” she adds.

“It’s great news that the Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 project has been given the green light. Density in our cities is only possible if we can provide the supporting infrastructure, and that includes transport,” says Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully.

Images: NSW gov’t

Branko Miletic

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