{"id":360163,"date":"2025-12-20T09:43:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T09:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/360163\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T09:43:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T09:43:11","slug":"paramatta-light-rail-usage-tipped-to-double-next-year-despite-numbers-falling-short-in-its-first-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/360163\/","title":{"rendered":"Paramatta Light Rail usage tipped to double next year despite numbers falling short in its first year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Commuters have been slow to make use of the $2.9 billion Parramatta Light Rail service, with daily patron numbers about half the state government’s projections.<\/p>\n

One year on from the first passengers using the service, data from Transport for NSW (TfNSW) revealed an average of 12,000 daily trips from January to November this year.<\/p>\n

The state government initially predicted the service would have an average of 22,000 people using it a day by 2026.<\/p>\n

\"Empty<\/p>\n

About 22,000 are expected to use the light rail service each day next year. (ABC News: Greg Bigelow)<\/p>\n

After numerous delays due to electrical faults identified during testing, the line from Carlingford to Westmead opened on December 20, 2024.<\/p>\n

Construction of the light rail’s stage two has begun and will connect Parramatta to Olympic Park, which is anticipated to grow patronage numbers long-term.<\/p>\n

Building for projected development<\/p>\n

Mathew Hounsell, transport researcher at the University of Technology Sydney, said housing was needed “to drive patronage” on the Parramatta Light Rail.<\/p>\n

\"Close<\/p>\n

Mathew Hounsell says housing will “drive patronage” on the light rail. (ABC News: Patrick Thomas)<\/p>\n

“It takes time for any light rail to build patronage but [the Parramatta Light Rail] is lacking a cohesive plan around land use and events and places to go to drive patronage,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Rosehill Gardens stop is located about 2.5 kilometres from the Parramatta CBD and is on the outskirts of the Rosehill Racecourse.<\/p>\n

According to TfNSW data, it was the least-used light rail stop in 2025 out of the 16 stations, with an average of 130 trips a day from January to November.<\/p>\n

Mr Hounsell said Rosehill was currently “very easy to drive to” but the area was expected to change over time.<\/p>\n

“The existence of that tramway stop has made that property extremely valuable,” he said.<\/p>\n

“You have to build both [housing and transport] at the same time.”<\/p>\n

Commuters celebrate opening day of Parramatta light rail<\/a><\/p>\n

Commuters were determined to ride Parramatta’s new light rail as soon as it opened.<\/p>\n

Rough patches<\/p>\n

In addition to low patronage, the service has experienced a number of safety incidents, with TfNSW confirming there had been “numerous” collisions with road vehicles at different areas of the Parramatta light rail.<\/p>\n

TfNSW coordinator Howard Collins said the agency had a responsibility to keep the public safe.<\/p>\n

“Our focus for year two is not only to keep the network reliable and well-used, but to ensure every journey is as safe as possible,” he said.<\/p>\n

“That means educating the community, enhancing visibility and reminding pedestrians, drivers and cyclists to stay alert around the tracks.”<\/p>\n

Adjusting to new transport routes<\/p>\n

Mr Hounsell said it took time for the public to adjust to new transport options.<\/p>\n

“When people are comfortable driving to and from a place, they’ll stick to driving until it gets painful enough that they start looking at alternatives.”<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Mr Hounsell says it takes time for the public to adjust to new transport options. (ABC News: Patrick Thomas)<\/p>\n

He also said there was a lack of shops and businesses along the line to drive higher patronage on weekends, particularly at stops in highly residential areas.<\/p>\n

“There’s no destination at Carlingford, there’s no pubs, there’s no theatres,” Mr Hounsell said.<\/p>\n

On weekends, TfNSW data showed an average of 40 per cent fewer trips on the service.<\/p>\n

Mr Hounsell said the higher weekday usage indicated the light rail was “too dependent” on regular commuters.<\/p>\n

Frequent travellers\"Man<\/p>\n

Moey says he prefers the light rail compared to the train because he lives close to a stop. (ABC News: Monish Nand)<\/p>\n

Frequent user Moey said he used the service in to Parramatta because he lived near one of the stops.<\/p>\n

“At the start, it looked awkward because it was all over the place, and stopped cars from going [on some lanes], but it makes sense now \u2026 in hindsight, it’s better,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s more open compared to the trains and not many people use it, so it’s alright.”<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Dona Lynvandyn says the light rail is useful for when she does not want to drive. (ABC News: Monish Nand)<\/p>\n

Dona Lynvandyn said the light rail has been good for areas that previously had “hardly any transport”.<\/p>\n

“I’ve used it to go to places [when] I just want to feel relaxed, have convenience, and not drive,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Phillip Sharpe travels regularly from his home in Merrylands to Westmead, and changes from train to light rail at Parramatta. (ABC News: Monish Nand)<\/p>\n

Phillip Sharpe travelled often from Merrylands to Westmead, and got onto the light rail at Parramatta.<\/p>\n

“It’s the best thing that ever happened to Parramatta,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Fantastic, no waiting around, it’s a good service.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Commuters have been slow to make use of the $2.9 billion Parramatta Light Rail service, with daily patron…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":360164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,78712,196481,196480,196478,44,5847,196473,196474,16390,196472,196475,196476,196479,182874,196477,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-360163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-light-rail","10":"tag-light-rail-class-action","11":"tag-light-rail-cost","12":"tag-light-rail-usage","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-nsw-news","15":"tag-opal-data","16":"tag-opal-tap-on","17":"tag-parramatta","18":"tag-parramatta-light-rail","19":"tag-stage-1-light-rail","20":"tag-stage-2-light-rail","21":"tag-sydney-light-rail-map","22":"tag-sydney-news","23":"tag-sydney-transport","24":"tag-top-news","25":"tag-top-stories","26":"tag-topnews","27":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/360164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}