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A simulation of the light rail timetable is already under way.Credit:Louise Kennerley

If authorities decide more testing is required,the start of services will be shifted to the following weekend of December 14-15.

Transport Minister Andrew Constance said the government would confirm the date once it was satisfied the final stages of testing were complete.

"The main priority at this stage is to make sure we’ve crossed everything off the checklist first,"he said on Tuesday."We're still on track to have it open by Christmas,but the main focus ... is ensuring everything is operating as it should be before we get customers on board."

Trams begansimulating the timetable for services last weekend,a process that will continue until they start carrying passengers.

While the trams will run until 1am when fully operational,the government is prepared tooperate them lateron weekends if there is demand,as part of efforts to revive the night life once lockout laws are relaxed.

It has indicated it wants the 1.30am lockout laws in the CBD scrapped before the end of December.

The Committee for Sydney,Sydney Business Chamber and other business groups had been urging the government to operate trams beyond 1am on weekends to support the night-time economy.

Complicating the start of services,tram drivers and other staff working on the light rail line will vote on Thursday on whether to accept a new collective pay agreement.

While the line from Circular Quay to Randwick will open next month,trams are not due to begin carrying passengers on a branch line to Kingsford until March.

The start of light rail services through the centre of Sydney has been described by those overseeing them as a bigger challenge than the opening of the Metro Northwest rail line,partly because crowd management plans have had to be developed for every stop.

Authorities have been repeatedly warning pedestrians,cyclists and motorists to be extra vigilant around trams,following near misses in recent months.

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