On 23 October 2014, the Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian announced the selection of The Connecting Sydney consortium as the preferred bidder to deliver and operate the Sydney’s new CBD and South East Light Rail Project. The Connecting Sydney consortium consists of Transdev Sydney, Alstom Transport Australia, Acciona Infrastructure Australia and Capella Capital.<\/p>\n
Edge Environment worked with Connecting Sydney to deliver the bid, covering aspects including the sustainability strategy, management planning, technical works and whole of life costing.<\/p>\n
The Minister also announced light rail would have 50 per cent more capacity than the 9,000 passengers per hour previously planned. \u201cThe preferred bidder\u2019s proposal offers an innovative, world class solution that will deliver a huge win for public transport customers, with reduced crowding on the light rail service and more capacity to cater for future demand,\u201d Ms Berejiklian said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe proposal offers services that from day one carry up to 15 per cent more light rail passengers in peak hours, and 33 per cent more seats across the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I have said previously, the biggest challenge for this project is meeting the high demand from customers who are expected to choose light rail over buses, private vehicles and other transport options.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe preferred bidder has responded to this challenge with a proposal that ultimately has the potential to carry over 50 per cent more than the 9,000 passengers per hour in each direction previously announced by the government ” Ms Berejiklian said.<\/p>\n
Edge Environment considers that the Sydney Light Rail plays an important role in providing high-capacity public transport as it plays a critical role in developing efficient and equitable urban mobility.<\/p>\n
Further detail will be released when the contract is awarded by the end of the year.<\/p>\n