In 1855 the Sydney Railway Co opened a railway line between Sydney railways station (the forerunner to Central and located nearer to Redfern) and Darling Harbour. By 1908 the Darling Harbour line and the surrounding suburban traffic were nearing full capacity so approval was sought for the construction of a dedicated freight line from Sefton to Darling Harbour via Enfield Yard and a new Chullora Yard, its use declined. The Darling Harbour yard closed in 1984 and in 1996 the Lilyfield to Central section of the Darling Harbour line closed. With minor track additions at the Central end, this track formed the basis of the Sydney Light Rail, with the Central to Wentworth Park line opening in 1997 and the extension to Lilyfield opening in 2000.
Rozelle Yard continued to be used by a number of private rail operators (such as Austrac, Freight Australia, Lachlan Valley, Silverton) for marshalling trains and storing wagons. The only revenue traffic on the remaining section of track was the flour mill of Mungo Scott at Summer Hill, and when this relocated to Maldon in 2009 all traffic ceased and the line was closed. This section of track was then redeveloped to become Lilyfield to Dulwich Hill extension to Sydney Inner West Light Rail and opened in 2014.
The Sydney Light Rail was originally a public-private partnership, but in 2012 the NSW government purchased it outright. It has two classes of tram, both running on standard gauge track, utilising 750 volt DC overhead power, featuring five section articulated low floor level bodies and equipped for bidirectional running. The first 7 trams purchased for the opening of the Sydney light rail were German designed Variotrams, numbered 2101 - 2107 (and referred to as #1 - #7) and were built locally by AdTranz in Victoria. Each tram is air conditioned and features 3 double doors on each side. The subsequent 6 trams purchased after the decision to extend the light rail are Urbos 3 type, were manufactured by the Spanish company Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) and numbered 2112 - 2117 (and referred to as #12 - #17). They are air conditioned, feature auto announcements and electronic signage and have 2 double doors and 2 single doors per side. (Tram numbers 2108 - 2111 were assigned to four leased Urbos 2 type trams shipped to Australia on lease until the Urbos 3 could be delivered. These 4 trams were returned to Spain).
In this presentation we have a ‘driver’s eye’ view of the entire Sydney light rail trackage from Central to Dulwich Hill and return, interspersed with views of trams taken at the various tram stops and places of interest like the viaducts, bridges and tunnels en route. We also have an addendum covering freight train operation between Rozelle and Hawthorne back in the late 1990s/early 2000s.
Approximate run time: 104 minutes.