The Parramatta Light Rail involved the installation of more than 1.3 kilometres of “green track” (a design that features grass and vegetation between and along the tracks). It is New South Wales’s first green track and the longest stretch in the nation. For Australia, the significance of this project lies in its championing of change and its demonstration that more sustainable infrastructure projects can have tangible benefits. It recognizes and builds on many international precedents, beginning in Germany in the 1990s. These precedent projects have distinct climatic conditions, including temperate, subtropical and Mediterranean. The jury commended the project on setting a benchmark for Australian light rail and highlighted the importance of developing green tracks with planting that responds to the Australian climate.
Green Track for Parramatta Light Rail is located in the City of Parramatta, New South Wales on the land of the Darug people.
Project credits
Design practice Transport for NSW Collaborators Sebastian Pfautsch and Vanessa Howe (Western Sydney University) Images Transport for NSW
To view all the winners of the 2022 National Landscape Architecture Awards, go here.
