Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 has been granted planning approval following a NSW Government investment of $200 million in the 2023-24 NSW Budget.
The funding was utilised to expedite the project’s planning processes so construction can begin in the current term of Parliament.
The project will connect Parramatta CBD to Sydney Olympic Park via Camellia, Rydalmere, Ermington, Melrose Park and Wentworth Point.
Increasing connectivity for Western Sydney, the 10 kilometre extension will include 14 new light rail stops, providing communities with a new transport link in fast growing regions.
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.
Enabling works on the bridge are subject to approval by the Federal Minister for the Environment and Water.
NSW Minister for Transport, Jo Haylen, outlined the expected benefits of the project.
“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,” Minister Haylen said.
“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.”
Find out more about Parramatta Light Rail here.
