LightRailStage2A

The inside story on Canberra's complex 2A light rail project

Transcript

00:00 So, raising the London Circuit is the first component of the light rail project.

00:15 And light rail stage 2a which brings the extension of the stage 1 system all the way down to

00:21 Commonwealth Park.

00:23 But then it moves into stage 2b and the wider light rail network which goes around Canberra.

00:29 It's important to keep in mind that what we're actually doing is building a 100 year asset

00:34 here.

00:35 So, what happens in Canberra today is not going to be what Canberra is like in 50 years

00:41 time.

00:42 The latest projections out of Treasury are in around 2060.

00:46 We're going to have something like 750,000 people in Canberra.

00:50 We need to be able to move them and we can't build more roads.

00:53 The congestion is going to increase.

00:55 Something like public transport and light rail in particular which doesn't sit on the

01:00 roads is key to ensuring that we can continue to move around.

01:05 Canberra's a great place, it's easy to get around, but as we get more and more population

01:09 it's going to become harder and harder.

01:11 And that's what light rail is as part of that solution.

01:14 Part of this project itself which is the London Circuit component of it is prior to us starting

01:19 construction it was very road heavy.

01:22 It was really around how do cars get around the centre of the city.

01:26 What we're doing here is actually activating the area for pedestrians and other active

01:30 travel along with light rail and public transport.

01:33 And part of that overall city to the lake development that is occurring.

01:38 We've worked really closely with the NCA to ensure that the urban design outcomes that

01:44 we will get when we finish this project are world standard.

01:47 (whooshing)