Monorail? it's been looked at several times, and never taken seriously for Canberra

April 1963 vision of monorail in Canberra

Many opponents of light rail make various claims that other technologies have not been fully investigated, or even looked at before the decision to build light rail was arrived at. That is simply not correct, and a basic search through the National Library Trove database of newspapers shows that the Canberra Times have looked at and covered monorail several times, over several decades. Proponents of monorail have had the same opportunity as advocates of other transport technologies to place their case before the public and decision makers. 

Monorail has not been used in many locations, compared to more conventional transport technologies, as it hasn't attracted enough development to be suited for mass transit. Light rail is used in thousands of cities around the world, and has hundreds of manufacturers offering proven technology. It is used by hundreds of thousands of commuters every day in several Australian capital cities.

The only Australian city to use a monorail was Sydney, and that was removed prior to the expansion of the new light rail network. At the time, several hopeful locals opined that the ACT should purchase that redundant system and rebuild it here. 

Demanding that contemporary transport planners consider fringe technologies for mass transit defies common sense. Monorail on the scale required to shift the volumes of commuters that Capital Metro predict, would not be good value for money. That is before the issue of whether the NCA would allow raised monorail stations, towers and rails down Northbourne Avenue, is even looked at.

Light rail is the best mass transit technology for Canberra, supported by an integrated more frequent local bus service. That is the proposal that the ACT Government, and the Greens went to the 2012 Assembly election with, and that it has a mandate to construct. No one would vote for monorail.

September 1962

April 1963

August 1989

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Monorail not suited for Canberra

The recent news that the Monorail in Sydney is to be closed and dismantled, with the new focus to be on light rail construction, has seen several other cities with public transport problems to look at using the Sydney monorail. 

I cannot comment on the Hobart proposal, but I can comment on the Canberra monorail suggestion. 

Canberra needs to focus on building a proper mass-transit public transport system to act as the backbone of a fully integrated system. Light rail can do the heavy lifting this system needs, with ACTION buses providing the flexibility in urban areas to feed passengers to light rail nodes. 

The Sydney monorail cannot. Its carriage passenger capacity is very low. The carriages are small. I have used the service - it is like siting in a row of old Kombi vans being towed one way around a strange non-relevant route. 

Light rail is a proven, commercial off the shelf technology, with multiple providers and a set of recognised standards. 

Monorails feature largely proprietary systems and technologies, locking users into contracts or using obsolete technologies with little to no service support available if the original supplier goes into liquidation. The same applies to providers of 'guided buses' and other types of proprietary technologies. 

The Sydney monorail track is very short. It runs one direction on a loop. 

Light rail in Canberra needs to link the major urban areas, with the major employment areas. It cannot be at the scale of a small tourist novelty. 

The Sydney Monorail is over twenty years old and maintenance on such an aging asset needs extra attention. Acquiring this system would be fraught with unknown technical challenges that would be expensive to resolve. Technical knowledge and support for this obsolete technology is scant and expensive. 

Building a light rail network would mean new infrastructure with system support from the contracted providers, who are still building this technology. There is a deep pool of this experience in Australia, and multiple vehicle builders and providers. 

While the availability of a cheap monorail system may have initial appeal, it is an impractical suggestion and should be rejected by public transport planners.  The Sydney monorail system has never attracted the patronage expected, and the reason it is being replaced is so that light rail can be extended.

Conversations on alternatives to using diesel buses as Canberra's mass transit public transport system are always welcome, but monorail is not that alternative.