Yes, at Melrose Park. A rapid transit artic bus service along Victoria Rd, continuing to the CBD via Ryde, as well as across the Parramatta River via a new bridge to Wentworth Point, would provide far more flexibility than LR. The RT Bus can potentially provide a direct link from Melrose Park to Parramatta, West Ryde Station, Rhodes Station and Olympic Park Metro Station. The LR would only connect Melrose Park and Wentworth Point with Olympic Park from Parramatta, bypassing Rhodes which is only a short distance away. It's overkill for such a limited catchment, notwithstanding the development potential, as it's only a feeder service and doesn't justify a higher capacity LR service. I'd be extremely surprised if the business case for LR stacks up, compared with the RT bus option. You have to ask the question, why has this project been in limbo for so long and out of the blue $50m is allocated for further investigation? What's changed?tonyp wrote: ↑Wed Jun 16, 2021 8:05 am From memory, there is a major development scenario along the north side of the river which would bring a major increase in population, so, combined with Wentworth Point, the capacity of tram would be needed. It's that old issue in Sydney - buses simply can't provide the capacity but the planning scenario may not justify rail. The long term rail plan does include a line (presumably metro) between Parramatta-Carlingford-North Ryde.
The long term rail plan from Parramatta to Macquarie Park is rather vague at this stage and only provides a link from Parramatta to Epping, where it would interchange with the existing Metro Northwest and Northern Line. That's assuming they can find a site for a new Epping terminal station, where options are fast running out because of pending developments. It still leaves other options open for the link, including the more direct route via Eastwood if LR on that corridor doesn't eventuate. It's unclear whether the proposed Parramatta to Epping link will be metro or an extension of the existing network, as it now appears that it is proposed to be integrated with an extension of the Cumberland Line from the Badgerys Creek Aerotropolis (Bradfield) via the South West Rail Link and Parramatta.