Minister for Transport Chris Steel has announced new details of the second stage of Canberra’s light rail project.
Mr Steel said the ‘Stage 2A’ extension would add 1.7km of wire-free track from the Alinga Street station, along the western side of London Circuit and onto Commonwealth Avenue, finishing at Commonwealth Park.
“We want to build on the success of the first stage of light rail, and this is the next step in the process to take those benefits to Woden,” Mr Steel said.
“We are investing in infrastructure now to ensure Canberra doesn’t end up congested like Sydney.”
He said new and existing light rail vehicles would be fitted with onboard energy storage to support wire-free running.
“Running wire-free through London Circuit will mean a narrower track built in the middle of the road, taking up less space as Light Rail will be running in the road median,” Mr Steel said.
He said grassed tracks were also proposed on the Commonwealth Avenue median.
“As Light Rail Stage 2A turns on to Commonwealth Avenue, wire-free running will also ensure that the heritage vistas along Commonwealth Avenue are maintained.”
He said the project was progressing as expected to the next stage of the Commonwealth environmental approval process.
“We always expected that an extensive environmental impact statement process would be required for the more complex stage 2B extension through the Parliamentary Triangle under the Commonwealth environmental approval process,” the Minister said.
He said a ‘fly-through’ video showing the wire-free and grass track design features for Stage 2A had been released. The video can be accessed at this PS News link.