Lightrail in Canberra?

greg · Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2003 12:25 pm

I have heard of a new lobby group having started to promote the
building of light rail over Canberra. Anyone know anything about it
and who are its members?

greg · Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2003 12:25 pm

"Gourd" <vbalst@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3e1ed018.54699348@news.optusnet.com.au...
> I have heard of a new lobby group having started to promote the
> building of light rail over Canberra. Anyone know anything about it
> and who are its members?

See http://www.gcc.asn.au/Issues/Lightrail/Lightrail.shtml

Regards

David Bennetts

dean · Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2003 12:44 pm

This would mean the politicians would need to sack the tax paying drivers, sell their free cars, and extend their free travel perks to public transport in the form of trams!!!

bevans · Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2003 3:24 pm

With the planning that went into what is now Canberra, were at any point during the city planning stage, trams or light rail ever considered?

When was the station and NSWR link to the ACT completed?

Were there options?

kuldalai · Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2003 4:45 pm

SRA maps shows Queanbeyan - Canberra line opened some time between 1915 & 1925.
Of course when built it was operated by Comonwealth Railways along with Trans Line and Central Australia line and Northern Territory railway. SRA took over line finally I think in the 1980's ; albeit SRA passenger trains had operated over it for years under agreement with old Commonwealth Railways.

Gazza · Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2003 8:01 pm

There was a plan at one stage to put the main Canberra station in the centre of the city, rather than on the outskirts where it is now.

Not sure why it was never done though, either in the first place or at a later date.

Gazza

DavidB · Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2003 9:13 am

[quote="Gazza"]There was a plan at one stage to put the main Canberra station in the centre of the city, rather than on the outskirts where it is now.

Not sure why it was never done though, either in the first place or at a later date.[/quote]

The line between Queanbeyan and Canberra (Kingston) was opened in May 1914. It was extended into Civic (Garema Place) in August 1921 as per Walter Burley Griffin's original plan. Actually the Burley Griffin plan had the line going further down Lonsdale St to what is now Dickson, Lawson (the naval communications station) and ultimately to Yass. The bridge over the Molonglo River was washed away about a year later, and the pro-car King O'Malley blocked its rebuilding. The line from Kingston to Civic was officialy closed in July 1922 and lifted soon after.

There was also a 3'6" gauge railway built for the construction of (Old) Parliament House. It ran from Kingston and the power station to the site and on to the brickworks. There was also a branch into Civic for the short time trains from Sydney terminated there. It was operated by three Hudswell Clarke 0-4-2ST "Wallaroo" type locos. The track was lifted when the building was completed, but some rails and sleepers were found when excavating Capital hill for the new Parliament House in the early 80s.

Cheers
David

mjja · Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2003 12:49 pm

greg · Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2003 1:22 pm

DavidB · Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2003 1:29 pm

[quote="greg"]

awsgc24 · Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2003 11:50 am

The bridge on the extension to Civic that was washed out was a timber one, that could not have been very strong against floods. Pity, otherwise the line might still be here.

DavidB · Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2003 4:24 pm

Panic · Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2004 11:54 am

According to a picture of the bridge I have seen in a book, the wooden piles for the bridge were on a bit of an angle to the water flow, as they were aligned at 90 degrees to the bridge. The book was called something like "Canberra's engineering history" and there is a copy of it avaliable in the Civic library.

I agree, the bridge looked rather flimsy.

agabook · Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2004 5:19 pm

i know that Mr Burley Griffin when he planned Canberra it included (in the plan)'Street car'(what yanks call LRV's or trams)routes.

Batchelor is a disgrace,stick a freeway on his head!
new rail to Portsea,East Donny and Rowville

S-Truck · Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2004 11:35 pm