Sydney commuters warned to be patient

Commuters in Sydney are advised to allow extra travel time to the CBD all week, as road closures due to light rail construction cause delays.

Sydneysiders can expect more delays during their morning commute after a horror start to the week.

Commuters are being advised to leave the car at home as they make their way to work on Tuesday.

The first day of the working week started badly for many, with city-bound buses delayed by up to 90 minutes over the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Monday because of work on the light rail project in the CBD.

"Come on the train or the ferry - use public transport as much as possible rather the car," said Lydia Aiden from Transport NSW.

"Commuters should expect some delays today - just because of those rail works - but we're doing our best to ease congestion," she told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

People are advised to allow extra travel time to the CBD all week, with several road closures scheduled on George Street.

Acting Minister for Transport Duncan Gay admitted just about everything went wrong on Monday but said lessons have been learnt.

"My hope is today that with the changes we've put in place that we'll get it right today," he told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

He described it as a "perfect storm" of problems that caused traffic chaos in central Sydney on the first day of the working year.

The problems came as road closures were put in place in the CBD for preparatory work on the South East Light Rail project.

A cable was then hit by work crews at the corner of Bridge and Grosvenor streets which stopped traffic lights from working, delaying buses travelling into the city.

A truck breakdown during peak hour in the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, a motorcycle breakdown in Milson's Point and a two-car accident on the Warringah Freeway approaching the bridge also contributed to the commuter nightmare.

Mr Gay said contingency plans were in place for each of the problems but not the total.

"You don't always get everything right - we try damn hard."


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Source: AAP


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