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Leungy
Assistant Commissioner
Joined: Oct 14, 2003
Last Visited: Oct 12, 2008
Location: Canberra
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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:41 pm
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Light rail tops ACT infrastructure wish list
9 July 2008
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/09/2299181.htm
| Quote: | The ACT has asked the Federal Government to consider funding a light rail system.
It is one of a number of major infrastructure projects that the ACT Government believes the Commonwealth should consider supporting through its $20 billion Building Australia Fund, which was announced in this year's federal Budget.
The states and territories have been asked to put in bids for a slice of the infrastructure funding with the first allocations expected to be made in 2009-10.
Chief Minister Jon Stanhope says he has written to the federal Infrastructure Minister, Anthony Albanese, this week listing the ACT's priorities for consideration.
They include a Very Fast Train linking Canberra to other eastern capitals, a major solar power station, a back-up power line into the ACT to deliver greater energy security and the construction of the Majura Parkway near the Canberra airport.
Mr Stanhope has also asked the Federal Government to consider funding major water security projects, such as the expansion of the Cotter dam from four gigalitres to 78 gigalitres, and the planned Murrumbidgee to Googong project which will pump water from the river to the dam for storage.
"Our infrastructure needs are as important and pressing as the rest of Australia," he said.
"The list that we've submitted I think is almost self selecting.
"It's the major infrastructure which we're currently investing in or which we've foreshadowed, it is about major transport routes, it's about electricity, it's about the major utility infrastructure - water, gas, electricity, roads and potentially light rail.
"We've thrown in of course our strong interest in the very fast train project getting up as a national project."
Wish list
At the top of the wish list is a light rail system linking Civic to the Airport, the Parliamentary Triangle and the major town centres.
Mr Stanhope says he would be "very happy" if the project was selected.
"Certainly we have suggested that if the Commonwealth is minded to support infrastructure within the ACT, that light rail is something that fits within the parameters of the sorts of projects the Commonwealth said that it would like to support," he said.
"It is about urban and community amenity as well as having significant sustainability and climate change implications so of course it's on a list of infrastructure that we would put to the Commonwealth."
He says the decision to put the project forward does not indicate a change of heart by his Government.
"We have never dismissed light rail," he said.
"What we've done is to say on the basis of the cost benefit and all the analyses that have been done by this government and previous governments at $1 billion it doesn't stack up in the context of all of our other priorities.
"If the Commonwealth says no then we won't be proceeding with light rail, it's as simple as that."
Support for light rail
Proponents for light rail in Canberra say they are pleased the project has made the list but they want to see the details.
Damien Haas from ACT Light Rail says it is an expensive option but he believes the $1 billion price tag is exaggerated.
"Light rail is a first world public transport system, unlike buses, and Canberra is not just another city in Australia, it's the nation's capital and it deserves the best public transport infrastructure in Australia," he said.
Mr Haas wants the government to carry out a feasibility study to see whether a staggered implementation of rail would be cost effective.
"We don't believe that petrol or diesel costs are going to get any cheaper," he said.
"Certainly if you look at the cost to the average Canberran, NRMA figures indicate that it costs between $7,000 and $12,000 to run an extra car for the average family and we believe that the average Canberran would rather spend that $12,000 on their family instead of on transport."
The Property Council of Australia agrees it is worth considering but executive director Catherine Carter says the figures do not stack up without federal funding.
"We've always thought that the ACT simply doesn't have the population to make a project like that sustainable," she said.
"However, if the Commonwealth Government indicates that that's a project they'd be willing to kick in for, it's certainly worth looking at it again."
Other priorities
The Property Council is planning to release its own infrastructure priorities study in coming weeks and among its suggested projects are a new convention centre, an upgrade of Civic and the revitalisation of the mid-city precinct.
Ms Carter says a glaring omission from the ACT Government's list of priorities is the upgrade of Constitution Avenue.
"The funds for that were withdrawn by the Commonwealth Government in the last couple of months, and that's an urgent piece of work and a major one that also needs to be on both the Commonwealth and ACT Government agendas," she said.
She is also pushing for Canberra to have its own infrastructure plan.
"We would encourage the ACT Government also to develop an ACT infrastructure plan, which includes not only those projects which the Commonwealth might provide assistance on but those which the ACT Government is responsible for itself.
"And we used as a model the Queensland south-east regional infrastructure plan which sets out a strategy, a plan, a timetable and indicates how those items are going to be funded," she said.
The ACT Government is hoping for Commonwealth funding for light rail. (ABC)
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TE2815
Minister for Railways
Joined: Mar 19, 2004
Last Visited: Oct 7, 2008
Location: Under the newsdesk !
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 4:33 pm
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Good to see the media putting the obligatory picture of a female in the scene 
Redundant Area Controller.
| dalts 1985 wrote: | (No offence intended to TE 28  by the way with that comment/remark as TE28 is one of the "old hands" & more knowledgeable blokes as shown in many a post/contribution") |
Siderodromophobia- Fear of trains, railroads or train travel.
My fotopic Updated 18th August 2008
R.I.P. Dad: 16/2/1939 - 22/9/2008 |
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konkos
Chief Train Controller
Joined: Apr 10, 2005
Last Visited: Oct 11, 2008
Location: Queanbeyan
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Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:46 pm
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Dream on people. Having lived in the area for many years, how many times has this subject came up. Actually in the orginal Canberra design and planning, a light rail was supposed to happen - but alas it never happened. Unless I am sadly mistaken, the ,ost recent reason why we never moved down the light rail road was the opposition of the ACTION bus drivers or the Transport Workers Union. As I said before, most of the older areas of Canberra, the medium land/strip was to be for light railwith Civic being the centre point. Maybe the Federal Govt may indeed came to the party and fund the whole thing but if it's to be the ACT Govt - it'll never happen.
konkos
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