[Peakoil-announce] Government to commission light rail business case

[Alex Pollard]

http://www.chiefminister.act.gov.au/media.php?v=7340

Government to commission light rail business case

Released 29/08/2008

The ACT Government is to commission an independent business case for light
rail for Canberra.

Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said the Government would shortly advertise for
consultants interested in preparing the business case, which would form part
of the ACT bid to Infrastructure Australia.

The ACT Government nominated light rail as one of a number of infrastructure
projects it believed warranted Commonwealth co-investment. The Commonwealth
has now asked the ACT for a formal business case.

"The ACT Government will commission a business case and detailed
implementation strategy," Mr Stanhope said.

"The Government had the foresight to undertake background work on light rail
in 2004. Since then, our population has grown, petrol prices have risen and
climate change has emerged as a more urgent challenge.

"It is therefore timely that we review earlier work to take into
consideration any changes that have occurred over the past four years, so
that we can provide the best possible case to the Commonwealth.

"The Government is aware that work on the idea of light rail is currently
being undertaken by a partnership between the Canberra Business Council and
the Conservation Council ACT Region and hopes that this valuable work will
feed into the development of the Government's business case. The Government
has had fruitful discussions with the partners and looks forward to more
detailed discussions.

"The Government is keen to have key stakeholders such as the Canberra
Business Council and the Conservation Council participate in a reference
group for the project."

Mr Stanhope said aspects of light rail that needed to explored in some
detail included:

o analysis of the most appropriate staging and routes

o refinement of previous costings and possible funding sources

o the role of complementary bus services

o physical access to light rail and patronage strategies

o impact on the ACT's urban form, and

o the social, economic and environmental implications of light rail.

The ACT Government will seek the advice of the best firms and recognised
experts to refine a light rail planning and implementation strategy. The
work will involve community input on the opportunities and impacts of light
rail.

"This investigation is extremely timely, as the ACT Government, as part of
its Canberra Plan: Towards the 2nd Century, prepares to embark on a
broad-based community conversation around our future urban form," Mr
Stanhope said. "The role that light rail and public transport more generally
play in shaping the future form of Canberra is significant and may become
even more so over time.

"Between the community conversation on urban form and consultation as part
of the work on the light rail submission, there will be an extensive
opportunities for all Canberrans to engage with this exciting vision."

Media Contact:
Jess Wurf 	6205 0504 	0411 772 700 	jess.wurf at act.gov.au
Penelope Layland 	6205 9777 	0438 289 714 	penelope.layland at act.gov.au