Sydney’s long-awaited light rail line from Circular Quay to Randwick is ‘ready to go’ with trams due to carry passengers for the first time this weekend.
Hundreds of staff will be on hand when large crowds are expected to board the trams from 11am on Saturday.
There will be no fares charged during the opening weekend of the $2.9billion project which has been plagued by cost blow-outs and significant delays.
The trams were meant to start running in March and were supposed to cost $1.6billion.
The branch line to Kingsford isn’t expected to open until early 2020.
The light rail line (pictured) from Circular Quay to Randwick will open to the public on Saturday
NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said Saturday will be an exciting moment for the city.
‘Everyone’s ready to go. Please get out and enjoy the light rail this weekend,’ he told reporters on Friday as he opened a new pedestrian footbridge over Anzac Parade at Moore Park.
Mr Constance urged passengers to be patient and motorists and pedestrians to remain vigilant.
‘We just need people to be mindful that the trams will now be carrying people,’ he said.
The long-awaited tram service was expected to be open by March 2019 and has blown out more than $1billion dollars over the initial budget
‘If people could just be patient, there will be large crowds, we know that. We’ve got a race day on, we’ve got shopping in the city, it’s going to be busy.’
The minister has previously warned people to ‘use their brain’ particularly when using mobile phones and wandering near trams in the CBD.
Transport for NSW co-ordinator general Marg Prendergast says authorities will learn from any issues in the first months of operation.
‘We know that the first six months is going to be difficult,’ she told reporters.
Additional Transport NSW staff will be on board to assist with the fare-less opening weekend
‘We know stuff is going to happen. What we need to do is respond really quickly when an incident occurs and learn from that incident.’
A few hundred staff will be on deck this weekend while extra buses will be running from Randwick into the city.
Traffic controllers and police officers will be on the ground to deal with higher than normal volumes of people, Ms Prendergast said.
A coupled tram holds up to 450 passengers, the equivalent of nine buses.
Some 200,000 kilometres of tram testing has already taken place while the 100 drivers have each undertaken 190 hours of training.
Safety officials hold concerns over identified flaws in the light rail that pose safety issues for pedestrians and cyclists (stock)
The new network will move up to 13,500 commuters an hour during peak time in both directions, the state government says.
Construction of the light rail has been plagued with a number of setbacks since work began in 2015.
Under the original time frame, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian was meant to cut the ribbon on the completed project ahead of the state election on Saturday, March 23, 2019.
The original budget was $1.6 billion when major work commenced in October, four years ago.
Pedestrians in Sydney are copping $76 fines for walking in or along tram tracks in an attempt to cross them without being more than 20 metres from the nearest traffic lights (stock)
The multi-billion dollar project has created concerns for safety officials.
Last month, the NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union slammed the New South Wales government over a lack of safety measures after they found a series of design flaws in the new network.
Union Divisional Secretary David Babineau said there are at least 11 flaws and safety issues, particularly around the Anzac Parade and Moore Park segment, that are hazardous to pedestrians and cyclists.
The claim comes amid a string of near misses between pedestrians and the light rail during the testing phase.
More than 160 people have already received a $76 fine for crossing tram tracks at undesignated locations.
The NSW government were hesitant to announce an official open date as it conducted 200,000 kilometres of tram