{"id":3820,"date":"2019-10-09T04:01:37","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T04:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=3820"},"modified":"2019-10-09T04:01:37","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T04:01:37","slug":"light-rail-countdown-hits-home-straight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2019\/10\/09\/light-rail-countdown-hits-home-straight\/","title":{"rendered":"LIGHT RAIL COUNTDOWN HITS HOME STRAIGHT"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tram testing is ramping up in the CBD \u2013 and will soon begin for the first time in Kingsford and Kensington \u2013 as Sydney counts down for the commencement of commuter services in December.
\nPremier Gladys Berejiklian, Minister for Transport Andrew Constance, NSW Police and the NRMA today reminded road users to be alert around the new light rail corridor as testing steps up.
\n\u201cAs we get ready for services to start in December, Sydneysiders will see more trams every day. Driver training extends into the CBD this week and there will be up to 12 trams out testing day and night, seven days a week,\u201d Ms Berejiklian said.
\n\u201cI\u2019m also pleased to confirm that trams will soon start testing in Kingsford and Kensington.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s an exciting time for Sydney as the countdown begins to the first passenger services from Randwick to Circular Quay, but it\u2019s also a timely reminder for pedestrians and drivers to be vigilant.\u201d
\nMr Constance said new safety videos, launched today by Transport for NSW, will remind drivers to be aware around the light rail as part of the\u00a0\u201cHeads Up, Play It Safe around Light Rail\u201d\u00a0<\/em>campaign.
\n\u201cWe have a number of busy intersections along the light rail route, particularly in the CBD, such as George and Bathurst streets. We remind drivers not to queue across these intersections and always follow traffic signals,\u201d Mr Constance said.
\nDrivers, cyclists and pedestrians have mistakenly entered the tram corridor at busy intersections, including those around Pitt Street and Eddy Avenue at Central, and at Devonshire and Bourke streets in Surry Hills.
\n\u201cWe know people are getting used to having trams around, but we really need everyone to be mindful of the tram corridor when turning at intersections, and if you end up on the tracks, drive or ride carefully to the next cross street and exit safety,\u201d Mr Constance said.
\nNSW Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy reminded drivers they must stay off the cement tram corridor and stick to the asphalt roads.
\n\u201cDrivers and operators of heavy vehicles must follow the new traffic signals and always stop on the red. Never turn in front of a tram and do not queue across intersections. Food delivery operators and couriers are also reminded to not ride in the tram corridor,\u201d Assistant Commissioner Corboy said.
\n\u201cThe message for all road users is the same; ditch the distraction, follow the road rules and pay attention.\u201d
\nNRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury said pedestrians also need to change their behaviour.
\n\u201cThe NRMA report released in July,\u00a0Look Up<\/em>, found over one third of pedestrians crossed busy intersections while distracted by their smartphones or wearing earphones,\u201d Mr Khoury said.
\n\u201cTaking this sort of risk around the new Light Rail can have devastating consequences. Trams are quiet and too many pedestrians have yet to adjust their behavior around this new mode of transport in the heart of Sydney \u2013 this needs to change now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tram testing is ramping up in the CBD \u2013 and will soon begin for the first time in Kingsford and Kensington \u2013 as Sydney counts down for the commencement of commuter services in December. Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Minister for Transport Andrew Constance, NSW Police and the NRMA today reminded road users to be alert around … Continue reading “LIGHT RAIL COUNTDOWN HITS HOME STRAIGHT”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3820\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}