Image: The Inner West light rail service has been suspended since late October. Photo: Sydney - City and Suburbs.
By DANIEL LO SURDO
Inner West light rail services will return this weekend after services were stopped in October last year following the discovery of cracks in all 12 trams.
From this Saturday, L1 Dulwich Hill Line light rail services will run between Dulwich Hill and Central Grand Concourse (using the Randwick and Kingsgrove service trams from the CBD and eastern suburbs line) every 15 minutes, from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm every day except Friday, when it will run until midnight.
The bus route from Central to The Star will continue to run every 15 minutes from Monday to Friday during the morning (7:00 am to 9:00 am) and the evening peak (3:00 pm to 7:00 pm). Other bus replacement services that will continue to run are the 3L1 Lilyfield to Central via Glebe and The Star and the 4L1 Dulwich Hill to The Star via Anzac Bridge and return.
Transport for NSW chief operations officer Howard Collins said that drivers had been trained to use the new trams and that modifications to the tracks, including changes to the speed limit, had been made. Final testing is expected to occur this week.
The F10 ferry service between Blackwattle Bay Wharf, Glebe and Barangaroo Wharf will continue to run between 7:00 am and 8:00 pm every 30 minutes on weekdays, and between 9:00 am and 7:00 pm every 30 minutes on weekends. The F10 service only accepts payments with credit or debit cards, with full adult ferry services charged.
The return of the tram service comes after Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne urged the NSW government to introduce a school special bus service following reports of children arriving late for class amid traffic delays along the light rail corridor, as all public schools in the state reopened their gates last week.
