The ACT government's light rail costings are under fire again, with the ACT Greens and Australasian Railway Association comparing them with latest figures from NSW.
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The NSW government has costed its six-kilometre inner-west Sydney light rail expansion at $176 million, or $29 million per kilometre, less than half the ACT government's estimate of $66 million per kilometre.
ARA chief executive Bryan Nye said aside from the obvious price difference, the inner-west Sydney light rail expansion needed to navigate a much more complex terrain than the ACT's Civic-Gungahlin route.
''Despite having to navigate through a significantly more congested urban environment, the Sydney light rail expansion will cost less than half that of the Canberra light rail proposal,'' he said.
''If a city like Sydney can cost light rail at $29 million, claiming it would cost $66 million in Canberra is outrageous. Something doesn't add up.''
The ACT Greens says the territory's 2012-13 budget debates shed more light on the ACT government's light rail efforts.
Greens transport spokesperson Amanda Bresnan said in the cost projections presented to the community, the government did not make a ''like for like'' comparison between bus rapid transit and light rail, because it excluded the capital costs for buses and bus depots.
The budget revealed the real capital expenses by allocating more than $60 million to the purchase of new buses and a new northside bus depot.
''We believe light rail is the transport system that would make the biggest and most lasting changes to Canberra's transport.''
The Greens and ARA have again asked to see all the data the government used to project the costs of light rail, and which it used to consult the community.