Young voices of light rail: Chloe Harper, Cindy Lucic, Archie Edwards, Sophea Chhay and Sebastian Abondante. Photo: Nicholas Ward.
Transport Canberra this week announced the five students whose voices will guide Canberra’s tens of thousands of daily commuters in coming months.
Archie Edwards, Cindy Lucic and Sebastian Abondante from Daramalan College, Chloe Harper from Merici College and Dickson College’s Sophea Chhay won the coveted positions in a competition between 15 students at Gungahlin College this week.
Voice of the Light Rail contest was a blind reading in which students read from a series of prepared phrases for the panel from behind heavy stage curtains.
In the end, it was a tight competition with judges asking seven students to re-read lines as they debated the winner.
A high-quality line-up contests positions for the light rail voices. Photo: Nicholas Ward.
After 30 minutes of reading and whispered discussions, the five successful candidates were invited to the front of the room to become the new voices of light rail.
A range of styles was on display – from Cindy’s bold projection and classic newsreader flair to Archie with a professional but more casual and familiar Australian delivery to his read.
The five will now become some of the most recognisable voices in the city, always in the background of our day-to-day lives.
Sebastian said everyone’s performances were impressive.
“I didn’t know how I was going to do really. I had no idea,” he said.
“It’s incredible. You know, I catch light rail every so often and I hear the voices. I’m like, okay, you know, is that me in the future? It’s really surreal.”
Bubbling with excitement, Chloe thanked her family and friends for their support.
“Honestly, I still can’t believe that. I mean honest, I can’t keep the smile off my face. It feels like I’m in a dream. I’ve honestly loved the whole process. My teachers have been amazing to support me. So, yeah, I’m really thankful.”
The five judges discuss who will be the future voice of light rail in Canberra. Photo: Nicholas Ward.
The panel of five judges included three day-to-day commuters to represent the varied voices of a modern city’s commuter base and one representative each from Transport Canberra and Canberra Metro.
George Vallance, Transport Canberra’s executive branch manager for light rail operations, said engagement with schools and the community was important to the organisation.
“It’s really fantastic. We are so happy to have so many schools come to take part in the voice of light rail. We drew from the schools along the line and the voices of the students will be used on board light rail over the coming years.
“We really value community engagement within light rail operations and love seeing Canberrans get on board.”
Nervous contestants await as the light rail voice winners are announced. Photo: Nicholas Ward.
Daramalan performing arts teacher Angela Dunn said it was great to see her students do so well.
“I’m really proud of them,” she said. “They’ve worked hard and it’s been such a great project for them to be involved in. Probably not as much practice as I would have liked, but they’ve grown in confidence and it’s been a great public speaking tool for them.”
Each new voice of light rail transport also received a $100 gift voucher.
Sourcing metro voices from the local student population started in 2018, ahead of the opening of the light rail in 2019.
The winners will now become familiar voices for Canberra’s light rail commuters and travellers.
