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Speculation is mounting that New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally will shelve the much-criticised Rozelle Metro rail project within weeks.
The Daily Grind has learned that the delay will allow the government to finalise a radical redesign of the project, under which innovative single-carriage trains will travel at surface level between Rozelle and the city.
The new diesel trains will sport a distinctive blue and white livery and carry up to 49 seated passengers.
Other new features of the project stations on every block, full integration with bus tickets, and the unique ability to run without rails or overhead wiring of any kind.
Although the new-look metro system has only just been designed, the government is confident it can have the new trains running to Rozelle by the revised target date of 1961.
Stage 2 of the metro network, a railway line from the city to Westmead, is expected to open by 1883.
The troubled metro project was launched, apparently without much deliberation, by then-premier Nathan Rees in 2008. To ensure that this mistake is not repeated, the envelope the plan was written on will be stripped of its planning powers and moved to the health portfolio.
One of the Rozelle metro's innovative surface-level, single-carriage, trackless trains.
