The challenge has been put out for the NSW Transport body to justify its push for light rail in the Newcastle CBD.

Transport advocate Darrell Harris says recent reports and the Newcastle City Centre Transport plan, which claims light rail is the best option, provide no proper conclusion about the method. Mr Harris said Volume One and Three of the 2010 plan did not mention light rail, and the second volume only mentioned it in appendix A where a summary of previous reports - some on light rail - were included. He says he wants to know where the evidence is coming from.

“One says in previous reports it was suggested that light rail might run in the existing rail corridor, and the other says the Opal smart card could be used on light rail... ultimately, all those previous light rail proposals were found to have significant deficiencies and were either rejected or not pursued further by earlier governments. AECOM did no further evaluation of the earlier proposals and did not propose any new light rail alternatives as part of the report,” according to Mr Harris.

The plan has caused outrage for many Newcastle residents, who see it only as a way to get home from work later than normal. One commenter called the plan “a brilliant foot-shooting exercise in deterring public transport use and generally keeping people from repopulating the city centre.”

Transport for NSW said the planning process would be similar to the Sydney light rail project, where research into customer’s needs determined the route.