Released 18/04/2019
Hundreds of special guests including school students, charity and ballot winners were today among the first to travel on Canberra’s light rail completing a full loop of the alignment.
The rest of Canberra will have a chance to ride light rail this Saturday 20 April, with a community launch event planned to help manage the tens of thousands of people expected to come along to the first day of operations.
“It was wonderful to join so many excited Canberrans for today’s Community Preview Loop. Almost 6,000 members of the community entered the recent ballot to ride on light rail, with 150 double passes issued for the day,” said Minister for Transport Meegan Fitzharris.
“A simultaneous fleet of light rail vehicles travelled the light rail corridor from various stops completing a full loop of the 12-kilometre alignment and guests received a special commemorative ticket to treasure for years to come.
“Now everyone will be turning their attention to Saturday’s official launch of light rail, which will be a real celebration of this exciting milestone for our city.”
From 9am till 4 pm the launch activities will get underway with both the Gungahlin Place and Alinga Street stops welcoming passengers on board for a free ride.
Leave the car at home and make use of free public transport all weekend. There will be a number of park and ride locations, including GIO Stadium from which you can get a bus to your choice of Gungahlin and Civic. Why not take a bus to Civic, ride the light rail to Gungahlin then take a bus back to your car after checking out the entertainment.
So that people waiting have a chance to get on, please note, all passengers will be required to get off light rail at the end of the line.
Large crowds are expected and Transport Canberra team members wearing red shirts and hats will be identifiable to assist passengers with getting on and off light rail at any of the 13 stops along the corridor.
Queues are expected and passengers are asked to please be patient, plan their day, leave the car at home and use free public transport. There will also be entertainment at both the City and Gungahlin light rail stops with kid zones to keep smiles on little faces.
Saturday 20 April and Easter Sunday 21 April 2019 travel on public transport will be free. Once the new bus network is introduced from Monday 29 April 2019, one month of free travel will commence allowing Canberrans to experience the integrated transport network – buses and light rail – for free if they have a MyWay card.
Light rail from the City to Gungahlin forms part of the ACT Greens and ACT Labor Parliamentary Agreement.
For more information about the community launch on Saturday 20 April 2019, visit www.transport.act.gov.au.
- Statement ends -
Meegan Fitzharris, MLA | Media Releases
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