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Hobart Light Rail Stuck at the Station Under Liberals


Cassy O'Connor MP  -  Tuesday, 27 October 2020

Tags: Hobart Light Rail, Public Transport, Traffic Congestion, Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Cassy O’Connor MP | Greens Leader and Member for Clark

The Gutwein Government needs to come out of hiding on Northern Suburbs light rail.  It has had seven years to get this vital project on track, and yet it’s still stuck at the station.

The publicly funded consultants’ report on the rail corridor has been with government since early this year.  Why the delay?

In the context of a COVID recovery, Northern Suburbs light rail is surely a winner.  It’ll provide employment, activate the rail corridor and reduce transport emissions.  The project is win, win, win, so why are the Liberals so resistant?

Under the Hobart City Deal, the State Government is required to deliver a transport solution for the rail corridor within the next decade.  After seven years of dragging their collective heels, the Liberals at a State and Federal level need to accelerate the project.

The last Federal and State Budgets were bloated with roads funding at the expense of passenger and active transport infrastructure.  Hobart and southern Tasmania deserve better than to have light rail consistently dangled before them, and no action.

This is a popular proposal and it would help to deliver a sustained COVID recovery.

It’s time to get on with light rail and it’s well past time the report in to rail corridor options was publicly released.