<span class="" id="parent-fieldname-description"> City of Sydney Council will contribute $220m to the NSW governmentâs light rail plan for Sydneyâs south east and CBD. </span> <p>Sydney Council was previously committed to contribute $180m but decided to increase that contribution by $40m following a meeting with NSW minister for transport Gladys Berejiklian last month.</p><p>“Earlier this month I addressed councillors and asked them to increase the council’s contribution to light rail of $180m by $40m,” Berejiklian said.</p><p>“I’m very pleased that last night the councillors unanimously agreed to this request and also to approve the Memorandum of Understanding with Transport for NSW.”</p><p>The 12km light rail line will run from Circular Quay to the Prince of Wales Hospital at Randwick via Central Station, the Sydney Cricket Ground and Sydney Football Stadium at Moore Park, Randwick Racecourse and the University of NSW.</p><p>“We are continuing to work with other stakeholders along the route with a view to signing other MoUs shortly,” Berejiklian said.</p><p>“I’ve been overwhelmed by the support for the project from key stakeholders, who recognise the benefits it will bring to Sydney in terms of relieving congestion and supporting major health, education, sporting, business and cultural precincts.”</p><p>Following the decision to expand its contribution to the light rail plan, Sydney Council held a “21st Century George Street” exhibition, designed to show residents how the light rail plan would transform the city’s major thoroughfare.</p><p>The council hopes to turn 25,000 square metres of George Street roadway (between Hunter Street and Bathurst Street) into ‘a huge, tree-lined pedestrian boulevard,’ with a light rail line running through its centre.</p><p>“At the moment, George Street is choked by day and drab at night,” Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.</p><p>“Light rail gives us a chance to revitalise the entire city centre, not just transforming George Street but also the laneways that run off it.”</p><p>If it goes ahead, the CBD and south east light rail line will feature nine stops between Circular Quay and Central Station, including stops at existing stations Circular Quay, Wynyard, Town Hall and Central.</p><p>It will continue for three more stops to Moore Park, before splitting into one line featuring five stops to Kingsford, and another line featuring five stops to Randwick.</p>
