The curves at George St/Hay street allow trams to access the Lilyfield maintenance facility.As far as I can understand it, there's no direct connection between the existing L1 line (Dulwich Hill-Central) and the new L2 (Circular Quay-Central-Randwick).
The lines cross at George St/Capitol Square (on the flat), and again at Central (grade-separated), but there are no services linking the two systems, at least for now.
When I was there last year I think I noticed a chord between the two lines at George St, but not in passenger use at the moment.
It may be the stock transfer line, as the tram depot is on the L1 route.
The new line will be very handy for tourists at Circular Quay and for reaching the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Hopefully Sydney CBD will look a bit less like a building site now, although there are several other big infrastructure projects in progress.
The L1 line mostly follows the old Sydney freight line past the port areas, while the new one is mostly on street in the CBD and suburbs.
A further comparison with the Edinburgh system, which similarly takes far longer to get from the city to the airport than the parallel bus. That one includes sitting tediously at stops waiting for time while the bus zooms past.The running time from Circular Quay to Randwick is currently 45 - 50 minutes. The old cars discontinued in 1961 could run the trip in 26 minutes. The buses they are supposed to replace comfortably overtake them.
Nice shot, I am so sorry about the terrible bushfires that you are experiencing in NSW and Victoria, I hope they cease soonest.I took this shot early on Sunday morning. Shows the crossover and points between the L1 (I’m standing on it) and L2 at Haymarket/George Street. Also shows the sun fighting a losing battle against bushfire haze
They are awful - I'm not going to complain about a bit of smoke when whole villages are being obliterated. As for the shot, thanks, a quick grab as I crossed the road.Nice shot, I am so sorry about the terrible bushfires that you are experiencing in NSW and Victoria, I hope they cease soonest.
That's really disappointing if there can be no interworking between the two systems.
Plus another new isolated system is taking shape as the Sydney Metro project, although the electrical system is at least the same as Sydney Trains.
Having explored Sydney's transport system last year, I discovered the old tram depot at Rozelle (next to the current Jubilee Park L1 stop) has been converted into a very popular retail/foodie centre called Tramsheds, complete with a preserved tram on display.
The site of another old tram depot at Fort Macquarie near Circular Quay is now better known as Sydney Opera House.
I liked the way the contractor hoardings for the construction of these new systems often have old photographs of the local area on display.
The transformation over 100 years or so, not just of the transport system, is often amazing.
Indeed. Incompatibility and NSW goes all the way back to to the 1850s.The stupidity of decisions on Sydney rail based transport knows no bounds.