Light rail Stage 2B is still the best option for Canberra, according to a new government report. Photo: ACT Government.
The prospect of trackless trams has been firmly rejected yet again in the latest raft of documents on the light rail stage 2B project.
As part of its draft environmental impact statement (EIS), the government said the technology had not been contemplated further as it was oversized, overweight, and couldn’t operate on Canberra’s roads.
The technology was raised as part of three strategic alternatives to light rail outlined by the government ahead of light rail Stage 2B.
The strategic alternatives considered were:
- Do nothing
- Do minimum – rapid bus augmentation
- Rapid bus – major intervention (including trackless trams).
Each alternative outlined an option the government considered and why it was determined unsuitable for Canberra’s development.
The “do nothing” plan involved leaving the existing public transport as is while providing no improvement in transport connectivity.
The government said this was not viable as traffic congestion and constraints on the existing systems would worsen, it would not meet the city’s sustainability or net-zero targets, and it would fail to provide for the well-being and accessibility of the city.
The second and third alternatives focused on a minor or major intervention through a rapid bus program.
The draft plan stated the minor intervention proposal would support growth in the shorter term, but was unlikely to achieve capacity and reliability requirements in the future compared with light rail.
“As this scenario would rely on the existing road network, future bus travel would be subject to increasing road network congestion constraints with corresponding impacts on public transport reliability and travel times,” the draft EIS stated.
“Light rail … would be wholly separated from an increasingly congested future road network.”
The major intervention option would involve restructuring Canberra’s roadways to build a comprehensive bus rapid transit system. But this would be limited by the performance of existing roads, and increased congestion, It was found this would worsen travel times without encouraging active travel.
Option three also appears to be the end for any further exploration of the trackless tram as an option for the city.
“Large capacity rapid buses with onboard guidance systems (ie ‘trackless trams’) have not been contemplated, since these are oversized and overweight vehicles which the road network is not designed for, nor are the vehicles permitted to operate on them,” the draft stated.
Weighing between 32 and 85 tonnes, the vehicles are too heavy to operate on existing Canberra roads.
The technology has attracted attention around Australia as a potentially cheaper, more viable option than light rail, but there aren’t many real-world examples due to infrastructure and maintenance costs.
When the city of Stirling in Western Australia made its business case to build a seven kilometre track the estimated price tag was $860 million, more than double the per-kilometre cost of light rail Stage 1, at $56 million per kilometre.
The draft EIS highlighted light rail’s ability to lure new passengers to public transport as one of its main benefits.
“According to the Light Rail Five Years On: Benefits Realisation Report 2024, 43 per cent of passengers using LRS1 have never previously used the bus network, indicating a preference for light rail as a transportation option,” the report stated.
The draft plan concluded that proceeding with the project case of integrating public transport networks with light rail would see benefits in reliability, capacity, and address forecast population growth in the city.
The report also stated light rail would support economic growth, foster active travel in the city, and help Canberra meet its net-zero goals.
