Federal Government backs Canberra's light rail

From empty lot to future light rail stop, the Commonwealth is getting behind the ACT Government’s vision. As part of the upcoming budget, we are investing $50 million into the planning of light rail Stage 2B. This will create an easier connection between the city and the lake. While it’s already chipped in for Stage 2A to Commonwealth Park, it’s the first time they’ve pledged funding for the rest of the route to Woden. The ACT Government will use the money for planning. It seeks approvals and continues community consultation to get an understanding about how we can maximise the benefits for the community, how they’re going to visualise going down to the stops, Do they need extra active travel connections to the stops? We want to make sure that this is really accessible for people of all abilities to use, to make sure we’ve got a really clear eyed view about what the costs are going to be. We still we still have no understanding about the true cost of the entire project. The opposition’s estimate of a $4 billion price tag is one reason it’s pledged to act Stage 2B if elected. In favour of more buses. It’s pretty clear that only Labour cares about public transport. Cares about making sure we actually have those transport routes. We’re getting on with the job of building Canberra. The Liberals just, you know, frankly the most negative I’ve ever seen. It is absolutely clear that was King has not even bothered to look at what we have planned. Advocates who are paying close attention aren’t satisfied with either major parties offering. We’ve seen recently the Greens step up and match the Liberals commitment. To run buses frequently seven days a week, and we think it’s time that AC Delay stepped up and offered to provide more frequent bus services in addition to their plans for mass transit. The public transport debate will likely roll on through to the October election.