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Category: Transport / Government and Politics / Local Government

Could track-free trams be a magic bullet for Sydney's 'varicose vein'?

13:04 UTC+8 March 28, 2017 | Stephanie Dalzell

Trackless trams like this could be a regular sight on Parramatta Road. (Picture: Supplied)

It's been dubbed the "varicose vein of Sydney" — but Parramatta Road could soon be transformed.

Several governments have tried, and failed, to improve the major artery.

Now Sydney's Inner West Council has hatched a $200 million plan to solve the problem, in the form of electric "track-free" trams.

"What we're after is a game changer for Parramatta road ... this is a modern, efficient, new way of doing transport in Sydney," the council's administrator Richard Pearson said.

The trams would operate on battery power instead of power lines and would run down Parramatta Road, taking people between Strathfield and the City.

They would be operational by 2023 when the WestConnex motorway opens.

'Noisy, blighted, unattractive'

"There have been more than a dozen strategies and plans to transform Parramatta road — and guess what? It hasn't been transformed," Mr Pearson said.

"It's still a noisy, blighted, unattractive place to recreate and do business."

Traffic congestion on Parramatta Road Photo: Parramatta Road is infamous in Sydney for its congestion. (AAP: Mick Tsikas)

There have been more than 15 plans to revitalise the road since the 1990s.

The Premier Gladys Berejiklian did not immediately endorse the plan for trams, but said all options were on the table.

"The one thing I love about public transport is everybody has an opinion on how best to deliver it," she said.

"There are already existing services there and we're looking at all the options."

Mr Pearson called on the Premier to support a feasibility study into the trams, which already operate in Geneva, Barcelona and Luxembourg.

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