Parramatta's light rail has officially open for commuters on Friday. The first passenger services departed Carlingford and Westmead light rail stops at 5am and Parramatta Square at 5:02am. Stage two construction of the Parramatta light rail project will begin in 2025, which will add another 10 kilometres of track to extend it to Sydney Olympic Park.
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00:00A hundred years since a government-owned rail system last drove through Church Street, Western
00:06Sydney residents can once again catch a tram through Parramatta CBD.
00:13Before sunrise, dozens of passengers rushed to be among the first to board the new line.
00:17I was up at quarter past three this morning just to get up to Carlingford to be on this
00:21tram so I've come a fair way but it was worth getting up early.
00:26It's been five years of waiting but it's been five years worth it.
00:29The Parramatta Light Rail was originally scheduled to open mid last year but the project was
00:34derailed by legal disputes, power grid challenges, safety concerns and governance failures.
00:40Ultimately, the budget blew out by nearly half a billion dollars.
00:44Many local businesses lost money during the five years of construction.
00:48What we hope is that this new piece of game-changing infrastructure will mean that the people of
00:53Western Sydney in particular will come and spend their money at Christmas time and New
00:57Year's in local businesses on Church Street.
01:00We hope that that makes up for it.
01:01The 16 stops of the L4 stretch 12 kilometres between Westmead and Carlingford.
01:07The next step of the project will connect this line further south east to Sydney Olympic
01:11Park.
01:12Part of it will include a new 320 metre bridge over the Parramatta River between Wentworth
01:17Point and Melrose Park.
01:20Construction on stage two is set to begin early next year.
01:23So far, two billion dollars has been committed to the new line.
01:26Parramatta is absolutely booming and over the next couple of years we will have every
01:32single mode of transport available to Western Sydney commuters and families.
01:38All of whom are hoping these plans will stay on track.