The Metro Monorail (formerly Sydney Monorail, and originally TNT Harbourlink) is a single-loop Von Roll MkIII monorail in the city of Sydney, Australia, that connects Darling Harbour, Chinatown and the Sydney central business and shopping districts. There are eight stations on 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) of track, with four trains operating simultaneously. Major attractions and facilities such as the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney Aquarium and Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre are served. The parent company of Metro Monorail was purchased by the Government of New South Wales on 23 March 2012. Premier Barry O'Farrell announced the same day the monorail would be demolished "as soon as feasible" but could be in 2014 or 2015.
What was initially known as the Darling Harbour Monorail was first conceived in the mid 1980s as part of the redevelopment of 50 hectares (120 acres) of land at Darling Harbour, providing a passenger link with the Sydney CBD. The operators TNT Harbourlink (part of transport group TNT) hoped to have the monorail ready by the Australian Bicentenary celebrations of 26 January 1988, but the opening did not take place until 21 July 1988. Nevertheless, the complete design and construction period of 26 months was an extraordinarily short one. Test services commenced in May 1988.