The new trams will meet customer demand, increasing capacity by more than 30 per cent and providing five additional services per peak hour.
Thanks to a population boom in Sydney’s inner west, customer numbers on the line soared from around four million in 2012 to approximately 10 million in 2018.
Procurement is expected to start within the coming months, with the vehicles expected to arrive within two years.
Transdev Australasia Chief Officer – Light Rail, Brian Brennan, has said the additional trams will provide much needed capacity on the Inner West Light Rail which has seen continued patronage growth year on year.
“When the new trams arrive, we’ll be able to boost our peak services on the L1 from every 8 minutes to 6 minutes, a terrific accomplishment,” Brian said. “I would like to thank everyone who has been working on this for the past few years,” Brian said. “It’s great news for Transdev and our customers.”
Transdev Sydney Commercial Manager, Mark Gottardi, also welcomed the announcement.
“This will allow us to effectively move more than 1000 people during the post-pandemic peaks.”