In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Sydney developed an
extensive tram network, which grew to be the second largest in the Southern Hemisphere and second largest in
the Commonwealth after
London. The increasing rate of private car ownership, the perception that trams contributed to traffic congestion and the general rundown conditions of the network due to the lack of funding after
World War II led to the progressive replacement of tram services with buses, with the final section of the tram network closing on 25 February 1961. In the 1980s and 1990s, the inner city areas of
Darling Harbour and
Pyrmont were the subject of an urban renewal program. In 1988 the
Sydney Monorail opened, connecting Darling Harbour to the
city centre. With poor integration between the monorail and other transport modes and the increasing redevelopment of the Pyrmont peninsula – including the establishment of
Sydney's first legal casino – it was decided to convert
a disused section of the
Metropolitan Goods railway line into a light rail line. A section of track between Pyrmont and
Haymarket was upgraded and a new on-street section was built to link the line to
Central station. The line was set up as a
public-private partnership. It opened in August 1997, running between Central Station and
Wentworth Park, Pyrmont. The private owner soon made proposals for a western extension continuing along the disused goods line, plus a new line through the city centre from Central to
Circular Quay. The western extension opened in 2000, terminating at
Lilyfield, but a new line through the city centre was not built in this decade. By contrast, the 2010s saw significant investment in the light rail system. This included the announcement and delivery of multiple new infrastructure projects, integration of
ticketing with the city's other transport modes, the introduction of new trams and the transfer of the network to full public ownership. The boon coincided with a period of investment in
urban railways across Sydney and Australia; the state transport minister in 2020 labelled Sydney a "train city" in reference to its
various rail modes.
Ownership and operation Public-private partnership In March 1994, the Sydney Light Rail Company (SLRC) was formed. SLRC was awarded a 30-year concession to operate the light rail system until February 2028 when ownership would pass to the
New South Wales Government. The contract gave the company significant control over the commercial arrangements relating to future extensions or interconnecting lines. Operation of the line was contracted to
TNT Transit Systems, which also owned the
Sydney Monorail. In August 1998, the SLRC purchased TNT Transit Systems as part of a
joint venture with
CGEA Transport. This resulted in CGEA Transport taking over the light rail operating contract. CGEA Transport and its successors have operated the inner city light rail network ever since. In early 2001, Connex, renamed from CGEA Transport in 1999, sold its share of the monorail to the SLRC, bringing the monorail and light rail under unified ownership and leading to the formation of
Metro Transport Sydney. In March 2012, the New South Wales Government purchased Metro Transport Sydney, and the company was placed under the control of
Transport for NSW. The purchase removed the contractual restrictions on expanding the light rail system and allowed the government to dismantle the monorail, assisting its plans to redevelop the
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre.
Government ownership From July 2013, the Metro Light Rail brand was phased out as part of a broader rebranding and reorganisation of public transport services in New South Wales. In September 2014, the process of shutting down
Metro Transport Sydney and transferring assets to
Transport for NSW was completed. The former private owners had set their own fares, which were typically higher than those applied to buses. Light rail fares were originally based on a two-zone geographic zonal fare structure. After the government bought MTS, light rail fares were aligned with bus fares, using a distance-based fare structure, when the
Opal card ticketing system was extended to light rail, in December 2014. The extension of Opal to cover light rail also ended the need for on-board paper ticket sales by customer service officers. Following the announcement of the CBD and South East Light Rail, the government decided to group the contract covering the construction of the new line with the operation and maintenance of both lines of the inner city network. In December 2014, Transport for NSW awarded the contract to the ALTRAC Light Rail consortium. This saw
Transdev Sydney, the operator under the previous contract, continue to operate and maintain the network as part of the consortium. The operating contract commenced on 1 July 2015 and runs until 2034. After taking control of the Inner West Light Rail and announcing the CBD and South East Light Rail, the government moved to establish a separate network centred around the Western Sydney suburb of
Parramatta. Transdev was contracted to operate the Parramatta network as part of the Great River City Light Rail consortium. This contract runs for eight years from construction completion, with a possible extension of up to an additional ten years. ==Operations==