The Canberra light rail line serves the city of Canberra, Australia. The initial light rail line links the northern town centre of Gungahlin to the city centre (Civic) and has 14 stops. Services commenced on 20 April 2019. The 14th stop at Sandford Street in Mitchell commenced operation in September 2021.
An extension from Civic to Commonwealth Park (Stage 2A) is under construction and is expected to be operational in early 2028. Planning of a further extension from Commonwealth Park to Woden Town Centre (Stage 2B) via Capital Hill and Adelaide Avenue/Yarra Glen will continue while construction of Stage 2A is underway.
The route consists mainly of grade separated light rail tracks either in the vast wide medians of Canberra's avenues or in other land corridors. Heading over Lake Burley Griffin in between the twin bridges of the A23 Commonweath Avenue and around Parliament House running next to State Circle and merging into the median of Adelaide Avenue and later Yarra Glen, terminating at the new Woden Interchange.
History
Background
Walter Burley Griffin's master plan for Canberra proposed the construction of a tram network and a heavy rail line. However, excepting for the Canberra station, the city was exclusively served by buses from the 1926 introduction of the Canberra City Omnibus Service until the 2019 opening of light rail services.
In 1988, Comeng proposed a Light Rail system for Canberra. One line was proposed in three stages - Woden-City-Belconnen (about 18km), Woden-Tuggeranong (about 11.5km), and Belconnen-Kippax Centre (about 5.8km).
Government proposals before 2012 ACT election In 1994, the Labor-led ACT Government commissioned a study into light rail, based on the findings of an independent report that light rail would be viable in Canberra by 1998. In its report, consultants Booz Allen Hamilton recommended a route from Belconnen to Barton via the City and Kings Avenue Bridge be operating by 1998; Woden to Barton by 2000; Tuggeranong to Woden by 2002; and Gungahlin to City by 2004. Routes to Canberra Airport and Queanbeyan received a lower priority. By January 1995, the Canberra Liberals announced their opposition to the light rail proposal, questioning the report's patronage figures and population projections for Canberra-Queanbeyan. In March 1995, the Canberra Liberals came to power and plans for a light rail system were discontinued.
In February 1998, the Canberra Liberals announced its support for the Federation Line, a proposed line from the National Museum of Australia via Civic to the Australian War Memorial. This line was proposed to use heritage trams."Heritage Tramway proposed for Canberra" Trolley Wire issue 272 February 1998 page 16
Proposal reached Following the 2012 ACT election, ACT Labor needed the ACT Greens' support to remain in government. As part of their coalition agreement, the two parties agreed to the construction of Stage 1 of the light rail.Canberrans not completely on board light rail project: poll Canberra Times 3 August 2014 Both parties had campaigned at the election in support of light rail.
The opposition Canberra Liberals opposed the project. In April 2015, the party announced it would cancel any contracts for the light rail if it won the 2016 ACT election. The light rail project was the major issue of the 2016 campaign. The Labor government was returned at the election, with the party claiming the result as an endorsement of the project.
Development and Stage 1 In the 2013/14 ACT budget, $5 million was allocated for early design work. In September 2014, the business case was approved by the government. The project, known as Capital Metro during planning, was developed by the government agency Capital Metro Agency (CMA). The line was to be delivered under a public-private partnership.A Public Private Partnership for Canberra Metro Capital MetroCanberra light rail project moves ahead after business case approved ABC News 16 September 2014
In February 2016, after a tender process, the government announced that Canberra Metro consortium was the preferred tenderer and finalised the contract in May that year.Canberra Metro selected to build stage one of light rail from Gungahlin to the city ABC News 1 February 2016Capita Metro named as successful light rail consortium Canberra Metro 1 February 2016 Under the contract, Canberra Metro will operate and maintain the line for 20 years, after which ownership will pass to the ACT Government.
Design and construction costs were budgeted at $707 million. The Federal Government contributed $67 million to the project. Commencement of construction was marked by a sod-turning in the northern suburb of Mitchell at the site of the depot on 12 July 2016. Major construction of the route itself began towards the end of the year.Canberra light rail contract signed Railway Gazette International 18 May 2016Budget 2017: Extra safety inspectors announced for Canberra light rail Canberra Times 3 June 2017
The CMA was amalgamated into a new government directorate, the Transport Canberra & City Services (TCCS), on 1 July 2016, resulting in the responsibility for the project being transferred to the TCCS.
Testing of the line began in June 2018. A section in Gungahlin was electrified and one of the trams made trial runs. The last tram arrived in Canberra in September 2018 and it was hoped to have the project completed by the end of 2018.Canberra's last light rail vehicle arrives Canberra Times 27 September 2018 The light rail eventually opened on 20 April 2019, with the final construction cost for Stage 1 being $675 million, some $32 million under the original budget.
Route
The line has its northern terminus at Hibberson Street in Gungahlin and follows Flemington Road, the Federal Highway and Northbourne Avenue to the southern terminus between Alinga and Rudd Streets in the City Centre. It is double track for its full length. Emergency crossovers are located to the south of the Dickson Interchange stop, as well as the north of the Nullarbor Avenue stop. There are 14 stops. The main bus interchanges are located at Gungahlin Place, Dickson Interchange and Alinga Street.
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Stops
Stop Suburb Platform layout Coordinates Gungahlin Place Gungahlin Dual (Island & Side) Manning Clark North Gungahlin Island Mapleton Avenue Franklin / Harrison Island Nullarbor Avenue Franklin / Harrison Island Well Station Drive Mitchell Island Sandford Street Mitchell Island EPIC and Racecourse Lyneham Side Phillip Avenue Lyneham / Watson Island Swinden Street Lyneham / Downer Island Dickson Interchange Lyneham / Dickson Side Macarthur Avenue Lyneham / Dickson Side Ipima Street Turner / Braddon Side Elouera Street Turner / Braddon Side Alinga Street Civic Side
The Sandford Street light rail stop commenced construction in 2020 and opened on 16 September 2021.New light rail stop in Mitchell Transport Canberra
Operation
The service is operated by Canberra Metro Operations (CMET), in association with Deutsche Bahn Engineering and Consulting, under a 20-year contract. CMET is a joint venture between John Holland and Pacific Partnerships, both of whom are part of the Canberra Metro consortium.
CMET holds the contract to operate the light rail until at least 2036. Formed in 2016,ASIC Company Registry; ACN 612 397 485 it is a partnership between John Holland and Pacific Partnerships in association with Deutsche Bahn Engineering and Consulting. CMET commenced operations on 20 April 2019 with the completion of the first stage of the project.
CMET is part of the Canberra Metro Consortium, acting as the operations component of the group, with both its owners also being equity providers. CMET does not contract with the ACT Government, rather it contracts with Canberra Metro PC Pty Limited (Canberra Metro) to provide service on its lines, which then contracts with the Canberra Metro Agency to manage the project and provide services to the city.
The contract specifies the following minimum service levels for hours of operation and service frequency: Day First service Last service Monday to Thursday 06:00 23:30 Friday and Saturday 06:00 01:00 the following day Sunday 08:00 23:30The last services from Gungahlin depart half an hour earlier.The first service from the city on Sunday departs half an hour later. Day Departure time Frequency To the city To Gungahlin Monday to Friday 06:00-07:00 15 minutes 15 minutes Monday to Friday 07:00-07:30 6 minutes 10 minutes Monday to Friday 07:30-09:00 6 minutes 6 minutes Monday to Friday 09:00-16:00 10 minutes 10 minutes Monday to Friday 16:00-17:30 6 minutes 6 minutes Monday to Friday 17:30-18:00 10 minutes 6 minutes Monday to Friday After 18:00 15 minutes 15 minutes Saturday 06:00-01:00 15 minutes 15 minutes Sunday 08:00-23:00 15 minutes 15 minutes
Rolling stock
14 CAF-built Urbos 3 trams operate on the system. CAF will also provide twenty years of maintenance for the fleet."CAF to deliver Capital Metro Trams" Railway Digest September 2016 page 4 The trams are long and consist of five modules. There are four doors on each side of the vehicle, two single-leaf and two double-leaf doors. The first tram was delivered in December 2017.First tram gets police escort into Canberra under the cover of darkness Canberra Times 14 December 2017First tram arrives in Canberra Metro Report International 15 December 2017A century late, Canberra gets its first tram Rail Express 15 December 2017 The vehicles feature a red and grey livery, with a white reflective stripe in the middle.New ACTION buses to be blue, light rail trams to be red Canberra Times 14 December 2016 The depot is located in Mitchell.
Five additional light rail vehicles were ordered from CAF ahead of the construction of Stage 2A. These vehicles are capable of wire-free running, as required by the National Capital Authority within its defined area. Deliveries began during 2024 and by January 2025, four were operational, with two in regular service.
Control system Tehnika's t-visor RAIL platform, also used on the Gold Coast Light Rail, provides the operators with a single, centralised control system. This encompasses the automatic vehicle location, traffic signalling priority, traction power & infrastructure SCADA, CCTV and passenger information systems, amongst others.
Stage 2 extension
Background The consortia participating in the procurement process for the initial line were asked to develop plans for an expanded route from the City Centre to the Defence headquarters in Russell via London Circuit and Constitution Avenue. This additional section was estimated to boost the patronage of the line as a whole by more than 30%. The proposal highlighted the desire of the Federal Government's National Capital Authority to use wire-free technology to power the trams in areas of the city under the authority's management.
The ACT Government decided not to proceed with the expanded route but committed to releasing a plan for a second stage of the light rail network (known as Stage 2) before the October 2016 territory election. It was considering extending the line not only to Russell but to the broader parliamentary triangle, possibly including Canberra Airport and the Australian National University.
Development of route and funding In July 2016, the government released a shortlist of four potential routes that could form the second stage of the light rail network. The routes were: City to Canberra Airport via Constitution Avenue and Parkes Way City to Belconnen Town Centre via Barry Drive past Calvary Hospital and the University of Canberra City to the Parliamentary Triangle via either Commonwealth Avenue or Kings Avenue City to Mawson via Woden.