Broken Inner West trams won’t be back in use until November

By ERIN MODARO

Sydney’s Inner West will not see all its trams return to circulation until at least the end of November, Transport for NSW has announced. Former State Minister for Transport Rob Stokes announced in December 2021 that residents using the L1 Dulwich Hill line would see the return of the entire light rail fleet by October 2022.

However, the government’s deadline has passed, as the fleet that was pulled from circulation due to cracks is still undergoing repairs.

Transport for NSW has said that while 5 trams have been fixed, the other 7 are still in the works.

“We’ve got them rolling through some enhancement maintenance works, we’ve got some training for the drivers… by the end of November we’ll be back at pre-repair timetables” Mark Hutchings, Executive director at Transport for NSW, told Nine News.

Trams pulled from operation last year

The trams were pulled from use in October last year when cracks were found in all 12 trams used on the Dulwich Hill line, which runs from Central Station throughout the Inner West. The light rail services were disrupted from October 2021 to February 2022, when services resumed.

Trams borrowed from CBD and eastern suburbs lines were used to make up for the out of commission Inner West trams. The gap in services was filled with additional bus routes with discounted fares, however residents still raised concerns over the lack of transport options with the light rail unavailable.

The L1 Dulwich Hill line services 9.7 million passengers per year and has 147 employees working in the location, as reported by Transdev.