In this video we take a look at the Sydney Light Rail. This 12.8 kilometer (8 miles) runs from Central station in the city to Dulwich Hill station along the alignment of the former Metropolitan Goods Line. The goods line opened in 1922 and was built so freight trains could access Darling Harbour without utilizing the existing suburban lines. During the 1980's Darling Harbour was redeveloped which saw traffic on the goods line decline. The section between Central & Lilyfield closed in 1996. Shortly after conversion of the line into a modern light rail began. The first section opened in 1997 from Central to Wentworth Park which saw 3.6 kilometres (2.2 miles) of track constructed featuring 10 stops. The new service was operated by a fleet of 7 Variotrams built by Adtranz (now Bombardier) at their Dandenong plant in Victoria. Shortly after opening the line was deemed a success and in 2000, a 3.6 kilometre extension to Lilyfield opened which saw a further 4 stops added to the line. In 2009 the last section of the metropolitan goods line closed after the last sole freight service on the line to the Mungo Scott's flour mill at Summer Hill ceased. In 2010 the NSW Government announced that the light rail line would be extended to Dulwich Hill. This 5.6 kilometre (3.5 mile) extension opened in 2014 and saw a further 9 stops added to the line. A fleet of 6 CAF Urbos 3's were ordered to serve the new extension (with a small fleet of leased Urbos 2's running for four months on the line while the Urbos 3's entered service). In October 2013 a further 6 Urbos 3's were ordered which replaced the Variotrams on the line in 2015. Today the line is marketed as the L1 Dulwich Hill line, and is colour coded red on Sydney transport maps. In this video we see some Urbos 3 trams on the older section of the line between Central & Lilyfield. Stops visited are: Central: 00:00 Paddy's Markets 1:08 Convention 2:44 The Star 3:59 St John Square 4:42 Jubilee Park 6:22 Lilyfield: 8:04 I'll upload part 2 of the video at a later date which sees me visit several of the new stops on the Dulwich Hill extension. While a further extension of this line is unlikely, Sydney is currently constructing its second light rail line. Dubbed the 'CBD and South East Light Rail' , the new line will run from Circular Quay in the city to the south eastern suburbs of Randwick & Kingsford Here's a video recorded at the Capitol Square stop on my previous visit to Sydney, showing the Variotrams in service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT7K6qe_lqg Date: 23rd January 2016

• published: 10 Apr 2016
• views: 17