Sydney Light Rail Extension

When in Sydney some Saturdays I walk to the Orange Grove Farmer's Market. This is near the terminus of the Sydney Light Rail (Metro Light Rail) at Lilyfield (the other end is at Central Station in the middle of the city). The light rail is on an old goods line. A flour mill which used the line for goods further on has closed down and so more could be converted to light rail:

Kevin Warrell, the head of Metro Transport Sydney, which runs the existing service between the city and Lilyfield, said it would cost $10million to $15million to extend it to Summer Hill. "It is actually a very nice bit of railway … it would be a simple and cheap extension." ...

The new owner of the site, EG Property, wants to convert the flour mills to residential and commercial use. Additional public transport would offer any development a premium on the value of the project. "There is no other user of this line," said EG's chairman, the former union leader Michael Easson. "Given it is a transport corridor, it should be adapted for transport users' use."

But the State Government, which owns the line, would not commit to converting it. A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Transport would only say "the Government will consider any proposal put to it"...

From: Light rail opportunity left idling on the track, Catharine Munro, Sydney Morning Herald, October 15, 2007