The key to a successful rail line is frequent trams, a fast journey and easy access, Capital Metro project manager Emma Thomas told property investors in Canberra on Wednesday, outlining some details of the planned line from Gungahlin.
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Ms Thomas said the plan was for a tram every 10 minutes and more often at peak times so people would not need timetables. A journey from Gungahlin to the city would take 25 minutes or less.
That would require some rethinking of traffic lights in the Flemington Road and Northbourne Avenue corridor. It would also mean not having so many stops that the journey took too long, and it would mean a fast turnaround at stops, loading people on and off quickly.
Capital Metro was looking at a capacity of about 200 people, she said. And there would be a single ticketing system with Action buses to ensure a smooth transition from bus to tram.
But Ms Thomas stopped short of providing too many details – she avoided a question from an ActewAGL audience member, for example, on whether it would be powered by overhead electricity lines or underground.
She said the communications team was working at the moment to ''share some of our concepts'' with the public.
Ms Thomas and Capital Metro Agency board chairman John Fitzgerald also avoided the question of whether special rating zones, levies and other methods of ''value capture'' should be used to help fund the project.
Asked how best to manage the temptation for government to raise money from the development, Mr Fitzgerald said governments ''understand very well these days that to cook the goose that lays the golden egg isn't a very smart outcome for anyone concerned''.
Governments understood that projects such as this could not be treated as a ''magic pudding'', he said.
Ms Thomas said land development in the corridor was a crucial part of the project. Property developers are strongly opposed to proposals to ''capture'' the increase in land values in the corridor with levies and rates to help fund the $600 million-plus project.
Speaking at Wednesday's meeting, Village Building head Bob Winnel said he was an unashamed supporter of light rail, but he called on the government to use the private sector in the project rather than driving capital away with ''indifference'' to private developers.
He said land developers in the city were being frozen out as the government become the major player, and he pointed to the mooted development of a massive new government office block in the city at a time more office space was not needed.
Mr Winnel was alluding to the long-held plan to build an office block to house 3000 ACT public servants, which some expect could be among coming budget announcements.
Mr Fitzgerald said Capital Metro was testing whether the public-private partnership model was the best way to build and run the rail line.
PPPs transfer risk to the private sector, which is contracted to build, finance and run the rail line over 20 to 25 years – although still with substantial government funding.
Mr Fitzgerald said PPPs delivered value for money and allowed private sector innovation as well as taking a long-term approach to the project.
He said Canberra was uniquely placed for light rail, having space available and plenty of government land in the corridor, unlike Sydney where the risks of a light rail up George Street were enormous in comparison.
The rail line would transform parts of the city, reduce car use and improve access for people and freight. It would create jobs, with 6500 jobs created by the Gold Coast light rail project and 10,000 expected in Sydney.
He was convinced that the ACT government understood the requirements, costs and risks and would get it right, he said.
Ms Thomas said Ernst and Young was working on a business case, due later this year, looking at costs, benefits, funding and ownership options, and ensuring all the opportunities offered by light rail can be realised.
An Arup-led consortium was working on the design of the rail line and reviewing the proposed alignment.
A consortium would be appointed to build and operate the rail line early next year. Construction is to start midway through 2016, before the election in October that year.
The Liberals have called on the government to abandon the project and have pledged to scrap it themselves if they win government.