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The final 10 kilometres of the Parramatta light rail line will now be built in two sections after the Minns government approved construction of the first stretch from Camellia to the fast-growing suburb of Wentworth Point, which will start by the time of the state election in March next year.
In a marked departure from previous plans to build it in one go, the government has confirmed that it will construct the section between Sandown Boulevard in Camellia and Footbridge Boulevard in Wentworth Point, which is expected to take several years to complete.
The first package will comprise 4.5 kilometres of track, nine stops and a new bridge over Parramatta River linking Camellia to Rydalmere, as well as the purchase of an extra 13 trams and an expansion of the light rail maintenance and stabling facility near Rosehill Gardens racecourse.
The government has not given a cost estimate for the first section nor a timeline for when it expects to build the final stretch from Wentworth Point to Olympic Park and the nearby Carter Street residential precinct, which will hinge on additional funding. The final section will have five stops.
Staging the build of the 10-kilometre line between Camellia and Olympic Park will reduce the amount of funding required for the entire project over the next few years. However, delaying construction of part of it risks making the entire line more expensive in the longer term.
Major construction is already under way on the initial phase, which comprises a 320-metre bridge over Parramatta River between Melrose Park and Wentworth Point and enabling works. Construction company John Holland won a $322 million contract in late 2024 to build the first major bridge over the river in almost four decades, as well as the first 1.3 kilometres of the line’s alignment.
Transport Minister John Graham said Labor committed to delivering the second stage of the Parramatta light rail line, and was now opening the way for construction to begin via the main works contract for the section from Camellia to Wentworth Point.
“Linking Parramatta to Sydney Olympic Park will provide a much-needed public transport link that was so often promised under the former Liberal government but never delivered, despite the rapid population and housing growth that has made this part of Sydney such a fast-growing area,” he said.
Coalition spokesperson for Western Sydney Monica Tudehope said delivering the project in sections would be a stab in the back to the communities that Premier Chris Minns looked in the eye and declared Labor would deliver on its promises.
“Communities deserve certainty on a delivery date, not more excuses. To only be able to deliver half a new light rail line would be an embarrassment,” she said.
The Minns government committed in 2024 to proceeding with the second stage, but declined at the time to put a price tag or completion date on the project. Its election promise was to start building the second stage in its first term.
The cost of the 12-kilometre first stage through the heart of Parramatta blew out by $475 million in 2022 to $2.9 billion. The maintenance centre and stabling yard for the trams was built on heavily contaminated land at Camellia, which cost more than double the original bill to clean up.
Patronage on the first stage linking Westmead to Carlingford via the Parramatta CBD has been lacklustre since it opened in December 2024.
Transport for NSW estimated in 2023 that the entire second stage between Camellia and Sydney Olympic Park would cost $3.9 billion. The Minns government has set aside $3 billion for the second stage, while it has requested federal funding which is yet to be forthcoming.
When the project was announced in 2017, the then-Coalition government said it hoped to start construction on extending the light rail to Olympic Park before 2020. Since then, the project has been repeatedly delayed due to a lack of funding.
Completing the final stretch from Wentworth Point to Carter Street would bolster links to a new train station at Olympic Park on the 24-kilometre Metro West line between central Sydney and Parramatta, which is due to open in 2032.
An environmental assessment has previously revealed Transport for NSW expects it to take until 2031 before the extension to Olympic Park and Carter Street opens to passengers.
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Matt O’Sullivan is transport and infrastructure editor at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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