Page 2951 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 14 August 2019
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We understand that there is no magic wand to increase the service instantly. There will need to be negotiations with Canberra Metro. Some of the issues that the government and Canberra Metro may need to consider will include whether more light rail vehicles are required to adequately service the peak or whether it can be met with existing vehicles.
I understand that, on one hand, there are some light rail vehicles offline during peaks, but at least some of these are needed to cover the rotation of vehicles for maintenance, safety checks and the like, so there is a question mark about exactly how many vehicles are needed to provide a particular timetable. On the other hand, I have heard people say—and I have been told that it is easily achievable—that we should increase frequency during peaks from six minutes to four or five minutes. That is clearly a point around which the government, the minister and his team in the directorate will need to negotiate.
Increased services will mean more shifts to be filled. One of the questions in my mind is: could these be filled by current drivers or do we need to train more? There is a time line to bringing more drivers on, if needed. And can Canberra Metro and the government meet these costs within existing agreements, budgets and targets or is extra financing required?
It is appropriate for the Assembly to take a consultative approach, asking the government to work with Canberra Metro to explore the possibility of increasing services during peak periods so that we can answer some of those questions that are certainly in my mind, and there are probably some others that my team and I have not thought of. However, for the Assembly and the public, it would be more useful if this call came with some time frames, and that is why I am moving an amendment. I move the amendment that has been circulated in my name:
In paragraph (3), after “peak periods”, add: “, and to report back to the Assembly by the end of its November 2019 sittings on the progress of this work.”.
The amendment simply seeks to provide for reporting back to the Assembly by the end of this year. It may or may not be the case that all of the answers are available at that time, but, given the level of interest in the Assembly and in the community, I would welcome the minister at least providing an update at that time. Even if he does not have all of the answers, I am sure he will be able to provide some information. In that way the Assembly and the public can hear about what can be done as soon as possible; also we can hear about how long some of these changes might take, if there are steps that need to be taken.
We want to make the most of our investment in climate change prevention and a sustainable city, which is what light rail fundamentally is, by seizing the moment and getting as many people as possible out of their cars and making the most of light rail. Part of that is about making sure that, at those peak times, people can get on, that they can get on with their bicycles, that they enjoy the ride and that there are enough services to meet demand.
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