VISIONS OF SYDNEY: Sydney CBD Light Rail Loop (2000)

Above: The proposed Sydney CBD Light Rail Loop. Full Citation Below.

Back in 2000, Bob Carr predicted a major expansion of the Inner West Light Rail Line, which ran at the time from Central Station to Lilyfield. To coincide with the opening of the extension from Glebe to Lilyfield, the NSW government considered an expansion of the light rail network to include a Sydney CBD Loop running up Pitt and Castlereagh Streets from Central Station to Circular Quay. In the inner west, the light rail line would have been extended into Norton Street Leichhardt. Any expansion would wait until the opening of the Cross City Tunnel (proposed to open in 2004 at the time).

 

   

Source: Skelsey, M. 2000. "Back to the future with tram power". The Daily Telegraph, August 14: 15. 

The vision had its merits, especially the concept of a CBD loop which would have opened up for better integration of eastern suburbs services with inner west services, unlike the current network where eastern suburbs and inner west services operate independently of each other with no integration.