Light rail in Canberra to create 3500 jobs

The ACT Government commissioned Ernst and Young to review the Capital Metro project and its impact upon employment. The report has good news for job seekers.

The Canberra Times report:

The light rail project will deliver 3560 jobs during the three years of construction, a jobs analysis has found, as the ACT government reveals another spin-off of the project - new training courses in the city for tram drivers, rail maintenance workers and others employed on Canberra's newest mode of transport.

Of the jobs in the construction years - 2017 to 2019 - 1450 are direct jobs on the Gungahlin to city tram line, with the peak in 2017.

Ongoing, 55 people will be needed to operate the tram line.

The Ernst and Young report makes a startling prediction for overall jobs brought to the city by light rail, predicting a "footprint" of 50,000 jobs by 2049 when the corridor is a hive of economic activity.

Jobs will peak in 2017, when the project will bring 960 new "achievable" jobs working on light rail itself, most of them on building the line. Once built, the jobs on the line fall away, but other jobs are created as a result of development in the corridor in the following years. In 2022, 75 people will be employed on light rail, 55 operating the line. But another 560 people will be in work as a result of development in the corridor.

The report points out that many of the net “achievable” new jobs during construction are relatively low skilled, which will help the problem of unemployment among young people and indigenous groups. In the ACT, unemployment among people with high school or lower qualifications stands at 4000. The Capital Metro project will need about 500 people in this category in 2017, the report says.

Sustainable Development Minister Simon Corbell said the report showed the importance of investing in large-scale infrastructure, especially given the economic problems facing the city, and demonstrated the big benefits Capital Metro would bring to the community, in the short and long term.

In a time when many jobs will be lost in the ACT, it is great to see the positive economic injection that Capital Metro will have to the ACT economy in the short and long term,” he said.

"It's certainly very clear that these results would not be able to be delivered if we simply adopted an alternative approach around bus transport."

As well as unskilled workers, the Ernst and Young report predicts significant demand for more engineers, architects and people with higher building qualifications. 

Mr Corbell pointed to high demand for bricklayers, carpenters, joiners and labourers, with flow on jobs in hospitality, retail and other areas.

The full Ernst and Young report can be found here or at the Capital Metro website.

The Canberra Times has coverage here.

For more frequent updates on Capital Metro and light rail related news, please visit our Facebook page 'Light Rail for Canberra'.  

2014 ACT Budget - 21 million for Capital Metro

The 2014 ACT Budget has been announced by the Treasurer, MLA Andrew Barr.

Importantly for light rail, there has been an allocation of 21.3 million dollars to Capital Metro in the 2014/15 financial year.

The Treasurer has confirmed that expressions of interest for construction will be sought in the first half of 2015.

Highlights that relate to public transport are:

CAPITAL WORKS

• Infrastructure investment: $2.5 billion over four years.

LIGHT RAIL

• $21.3 million for Capital Metro Agency.
• Government to seek expressions of interest to build and run to network in the coming year.
• Construction to begin in 2016.
• Capital Metro Agency to have 42 staff in 2014-15.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

• Weekend bus services to Molongolo, Harrison, Casey and West Macgregor.

From the Canberra Times:

Mr Barr said the total cost of the project would become clear when it was put to the market.
"Certainly we have made a provision in the forward capital works budget for those major projects," Mr Barr said.
"There are a number of projects that are at various stages of procurement.
"There's a huge amount of commercial sensitivity in relation to capital project costs.
"If I put a figure today, ahead of the procurement process, I guarantee that's where the market will land."
He said Sustainable Development Minister Simon Corbell would bring a proposal to cabinet in coming months in relation to the tram network, but it was unlikely the government would operate the network when it became operational.

Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury, announced (from City News):

“It was a nasty federal budget and it’s clearly going to put the squeeze on the ACT community, the ACT economy and the ACT Government budget bottom line. In the face of that, the ACT will invest in significant projects that will continue to prepare our city for the future and build confidence in our resilience.
“The development of light rail from the city to Gungahlin will diversify the economy while putting in place a modern transport solution that will also drive urban renewal in the whole of the Northbourne corridor, and gets us started on a project that will reach right across Canberra.

ABC News covered responses to infrastructure spending here.


It is estimated the ACT budget will contain more than $1 million for the planning of a new convention centre for Canberra.
Mr Barr says he recognises the important role a new convention centre could play.
"We will need to attract investment in order to make the convention centre a reality," he said.
"But we certainly recognise the importance of the project in the medium term and the longer term for the Territory economy."
Canberra Business Council chief executive Chris Faulks has welcomed the proposed funding.
"It's really the time now to invest in infrastructure that will produce growth and jobs and to underpin business confidence and consumer confidence," she said.
Sustainable Development Minister Simon Corbell says that would include sticking by the $614 million light rail project.
"Between 2016 and 2019 over 3,500 thousand jobs will be created through this project," he said.
"Those are jobs in the construction sector, they're low skilled jobs particularly amongst young people."
But Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson says light rail is a waste of taxpayers' money.
"The Government is pursuing light rail essentially to keep Shane Rattenbury in the Cabinet and keep Shane Rattenbury happy," he said.
"That's not a good enough reason to spend $614 million of taxpayers' money."


The Canberra Times has coverage here and specific light rail coverage here.

City News has coverage here.

The ABC has coverage here.

For more frequent updates on Capital Metro and light rail related news, please visit our Facebook page 'Light Rail for Canberra'.  

ACT 7.30 Report look at Capital Metro and light rail

Emma Thomas, Capital Metro, and Chris Kimball ABC

The local ABC television station ran a story on 30 May 2014 on '7.30 ACT' looking at the current status of Capital Metro. It was a very balanced story, covering the status of the project and competing political views on the project.

Click here to go to the link to view the story online.

For more frequent updates on Capital Metro and light rail related news, please visit our Facebook page 'Light Rail for Canberra'.