Parra News January 20 2024

LOCAL NEWS
The “best job ever” is right here in
Parramatta and it could be yours!
ELLIE BUSBY
Parramatta Light Rail has received an
overwhelming amount of interest
from locals eager to get behind the
wheel in western Sydney’s new “best office”.
With the long-awaited Parramatta Light Rail
set to finally take off later this year, Transport
for NSW has revealed a huge number of residents
are eager to become tram drivers.
Since kicking off its recruitment drive in
December 2023, over 600 people have already
applied to join the Parramatta Light Rail –
well over the 50 tram driver jobs currently
available.
It comes as no surprise to Light Rail tram
driver of four years and Pendle Hill local
Madhura Shamba, who has been looking
forward to transporting passengers around
Parramatta.
“When I started at Sydney Light Rail I always
knew that Parramatta Light Rail was going to
open,” she told Parra News.
“I obviously wanted to be a part of western
Sydney and be a journey-maker for them. I’ve
done a lot of travelling around Parramatta and
I would have obviously thought a tram would
make a wonderful addition to this network.”
Now working closer to home, Shamba said
she spends a lot more time with her family.
“I’m able to do the work in the morning, drop
Parramatta Light Rail vehicle drivers Madhura Shamba, Belinda Brown and Peter Le.
off the kids, pick up the kids and go for the
night shift,” she added.
“You’re having more time with family,
personally for me I used to drive to the city
in around one-and-a-half hours, that’s three
hours total, I’m just driving home now in 10
minutes.”
Fellow Light Rail vehicle driver and western
Sydney local Belinda Brown said she was after
a challenge when she first took on the role
five-and-a-half years ago.
“No day is ever the same in that vehicle, and
you’re in your own office, outside, with a view,
you’re getting people from A to B, that’s what I
like about it,” she said.
Parramatta Light Rail operational staff will
call the new state-of-the art Stabling and
Maintenance Facility in Camellia home when
the transport project officially starts running
this year.
The facility will be supported by more than
150 staff, including drivers, technicians and
maintenance crews and administration staff;
and will be complete with new facilities and
amenities for staff, including a training room
and expansive fleet maintenance workshop.
As Transport for NSW prepares to bring
more tram drivers on board ahead of the
Parramatta Light Rail start date in mid-2024,
Brown is encouraging other locals to apply
and “give it a go”.
“It’s the best job ever, you meet so many
different people doing this job, so many different
customers that get on and off the trams,
you make friends from that,” she added.
“You’re out there doing your own thing in
your own vehicle, there’s no one over your
shoulder in an office.”
Another round of tram driver jobs is
expected to become available in the coming
months, as the project moves closer to first
passenger services.
To find out more, visit www.parramattalightrail.nsw.gov.au/jobs.
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