Canberra light rail
| Canberra light rail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Alinga Street terminus
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| Route length: | 12.0 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power system : | 750 V = | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top speed: | 70 km / h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Canberra light rail is a standard-gauge light rail line in the Australian capital Canberra . The first stage, 12 km in length and with 13 stations, was opened on April 20, 2019. It connects the northern district of Gungahlin with the central business district of Civic. Vehicles of the type CAF Urbos are used . An extension to the southern district of Woden Valley , which will cross Lake Burley Griffin and past the parliament building , is in the planning phase .
background
The master plan designed by Walter Burley Griffin in 1911 for the planned capital Canberra also provided for the construction of a tram network . This project could not be implemented and after the founding of the Canberra City Omnibus Service (today ACTION ) in 1926, only buses handled the local public transport in the city. A project for a railway line to Belconnen presented in 1968 also failed to materialize . In 1992 the Canberry Land Company , which was planning the new Gungahlin district , proposed the creation of a modern light rail line for the first time.
The consulting firm Booz Allen and Hamilton presented a comprehensive light rail concept in 1994 with six lines that were to be built by 2004. When the Liberal Party set up government in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) a year later , it stopped all further planning. In 1998 the Labor Party came back to power and presented the project of a 7 km long tram line in the city center, on which museum vehicles should run. To promote the project, two vehicles from Melbourne and Sydney were shown in front of the Australian War Memorial in September 2001 , the latter running on a 50 m long makeshift track with the help of a diesel generator. Another presentation took place in September 2003 on an 80 m long track along Parkes Way.
Project development
The light rail construction was an important part of the coalition agreement between the Labor Party and the Australian Greens following the election of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly in October 2012. The Legislative Assembly approved five million dollars in the 2013/14 budget for initial planning work. Transport Canberra , a newly created directorate of the government of the ACT, assumed overall responsibility for the project in 2016. Four consortia applied to carry out the project, which is designed as a public-private partnership :
- ACTivate: Downer Group, Plenary Group, Bombardier Transportation and Keolis ;
- Canberra Metro: Pacific Partnerships , Mitsubishi Corporation , John Holland Group, CAF , Deutsche Bahn , Aberdeen Asset Management , Leighton Contractors and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi ;
- CANGO: Macquarie Capital Group , Obrascón Huarte Lain , SMRT International , UGL Rail and Siemens Mobility ;
- Connecting Canberra: Capella Capital, Transdev , Alstom and Acciona .
In March 2015, the government announced that the ACTivate and Canberra Metro consortia had made it into the second round of the tendering process . From this, the Canberra Metro consortium emerged as the winner in February 2016. According to the contract signed in May 2016, Deutsche Bahn, as part of the Canberra Metro consortium, will operate and maintain the light rail line for twenty years, after which it will become the property of the ACT government.
Planning and construction costs are budgeted at $ 707 million, of which the Australian federal government will assume $ 67 million. The groundbreaking took place on July 12, 2016 in the northern district of Mitchell, on the site of the later depot . Construction began on the actual route towards the end of the year. Despite the construction progress that had been made in the meantime, the completion of the project was in jeopardy. The Liberal Party threatened to cut all funding for the light rail if it were to provide the new ACT government. As a result, the light rail was one of the most important issues in the election campaign. On October 12, 2016, the coalition of Labor Party and the Greens again emerged victorious, after which they announced the start of planning for the second stage.
The first stage of the light rail line was originally supposed to open in August 2018. This date could not be kept and had to be postponed to the beginning of 2019. Finally, the opening took place on April 20, 2019.
route
The 12 km, standard-gauge , fully double-track line begins on Hibberson Street in Gungahlin. It then follows Flemington Road, Federal Highway and Northbourne Avenue. The provisional southern terminus is in the central Civic district between Alinga Street and Rudd Street. There are a total of 13 stops, with a platform change at the Dickson Interchange . The main junctions to the city bus network are at the Gungahlin Place, Dickson Interchange and Alinga Street stops. In April 2017, Transport Canberra presented the names of the future stops.
| bus stop | district | platform | location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gungahlin Place | Gungahlin | Side platforms | Coord. |
| Manning Clark North | Gungahlin | Central platform | Coord. |
| Mapleton Avenue | Franklin / Harrison | Central platform | Coord. |
| Nullarbor Avenue | Franklin / Harrison | Central platform | Coord. |
| Well Station Drive | Franklin / Harrison | Central platform | Coord. |
| EPIC and Racecourse | Lyneham | Central platform | Coord. |
| Phillip Avenue | Lyneham / Watson | Central platform | Coord. |
| Swinden Street | Lyneham / Downer | Side platforms (offset) | Coord. |
| Dickson Interchange | Lyneham / Dickson | Side platforms | Coord. |
| Macarthur Avenue | Lyneham / Dickson | Side platforms | Coord. |
| Ipima Street | Turner / Braddon | Side platforms | Coord. |
| Elouera Street | Turner / Braddon | Side platforms | Coord. |
| Alinga Street | Civic | Side platforms | Coord. |
business
A trip along the entire length of the route will take around 24 minutes. The contract between the ACT government and the consortium specifies the duration of operation and the timetable, which must not be undercut. From Monday to Friday, the tram must be in operation at least from 6:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., on Saturdays from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. the following morning and on Sundays from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. The trains must run at least every 6 minutes during rush hour and at least every 15 minutes in the evenings and on Saturdays.
The Spanish company Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) built 14 low-floor Urbos 3 trams and will service them for 20 years. They are 33 meters long, consist of five modules and are predominantly painted in red. The carriages offer space for 207 people (66 seats and 141 standing places), and up to four bicycles can also be transported. The first car was delivered to Canberra on December 13, 2017.
future
In July 2016, during the election campaign, the Labor Party presented its concept for the further development of the light rail project, which is to be tackled immediately after the completion of the first phase. She assumed the following four routes:
- City - Constitution Avenue - Parkes Avenue - Canberra Airport
- City - Calvary Hospital - University of Canberra - Belconnen
- City - Parliamentary Triangle
- City - Woden Valley - Mawson
In November 2016, the re-elected government chose a shortened version of the Mawson Route as the preferred project of the second phase. It is around 11 km long and begins at the provisional southern terminus of Alinga Street. Then it should cross Lake Burley Griffin and lead through Yarralumla to Woden Valley. There was initially the option of placing the southern terminus in front of Canberra Hospital. This was dropped in October 2017, so that the route should end in the Woden Town Center. In April 2018, following a consultation process, the government also decided to extend the route in the Barton government district by several hundred meters so that more jobs can be created.
Web links
- Project website (English)
- Canberra Metro (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Stuart Grigg: The Canberra Legacy: Griffin, Government and the Future of Strategic Planning in the National Capital. (PDF; 9.8 MB) University of New South Wales, 2007, p. 26 , accessed on December 13, 2017 (English).
- ^ A short history of railways in Canberra. ACT Bus, April 2, 2012, accessed December 13, 2017 .
- ^ Heritage Tramway proposed for Canberra. In: The Trolley Wire, No. 272, February 1998, p. 16.
- ^ First Tram Runs in Canberra. In: The Trolley Wire, No. 287, November 2001, p. 3.
- ^ A W2 runs in Canberra. In: The Trolley Wire, No. 295, November 2003, pp. 8-11.
- ↑ Tom McIlroy: Canberrans not completely on board light rail project: poll. The Canberra Times , August 4, 2014, accessed December 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Kirsten Lawson, Tom McIlroy: ACTION and Capital Metro Agency to be rolled into one from 2016. The Canberra Times , October 27, 2015, archived from the original on March 6, 2016 ; accessed on December 13, 2017 (English).
- ^ Mark Carter: Bidders line up for Canberra LRT tender. International Railway Journal, December 24, 2014, accessed December 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Canberra Metro selected to build stage one of light rail from Gungahlin to the city. ABC News, February 1, 2016, accessed December 13, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c Contract summary. (PDF; 1.5 MB) Capital Metro, June 2016, pp. 3, 5, 9, 13 , accessed on December 13, 2017 (English).
- ^ Clare Sibthorpe: Construction begins on ACT light rail depot at Mitchell. The Canberra Times , July 12, 2016, accessed December 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Christopher Knaus: Election win shows comprehensive support for light rail. The Canberra Times , October 15, 2016, accessed December 13, 2017 .
- ^ Katie Burgess: Light rail to hit Canberra tracks for testing from January. The Canberra Times , July 26, 2017, accessed December 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Katie Burgess: Canberra's light rail won't take passengers until 2019. The Canberra Times , October 26, 2018, accessed on January 11, 2019 .
- ^ Elliot Williams: Light rail system launches with first public trips between Gungahlin and the City. The Canberra Times , April 20, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
- ↑ Light Rail Stage 1 takes shape as stop names announced. Transport Canberra, May 2017, archived from the original on April 14, 2018 ; accessed on December 13, 2017 (English).
- ^ CAF to deliver Capital Metro trams. In: Railway Digest, September 2016, p. 4.
- ↑ Megan Doherty: First tram gets police escort into Canberra under the cover of darkness. The Canberra Times , December 13, 2017, accessed December 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Kirsten Lawson: Labor announces possible Canberra light rail extensions to build in the next term of government. The Canberra Times , July 21, 2016, accessed December 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Kirsten Lawson: Serious work to begin on Woden light rail line as ACT government calls tenders on design and cost. The Canberra Times , November 25, 2016, accessed December 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Steven Trask: ACT government announces preferred stage two light rail route. The Canberra Times , April 19, 2018, accessed January 11, 2019 .
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