Planning · Stage 1 · expansion

Canberra Light Rail history

How the capital moved from bus-only streets to an operating light rail spine — and why Stage 2 is arriving in phases.

Photo · CC licensed

Before the tracks

Walter Burley Griffin’s early planning for Canberra imagined trams and heavy rail as part of the capital’s structure. In practice, for most of the twentieth century Canberra relied on buses after early rail ideas stalled. Periodic studies revived light rail concepts from the 1980s and 1990s, including routes linking town centres, but political support and funding did not align long enough to build a system.

Capital Metro and the 2010s decision

After the 2012 ACT election, light rail became a condition of governing arrangements between Labor and the Greens. The project was developed under the Capital Metro banner, with a business case approved in 2014 and a public–private partnership selected in 2016. Construction on the Mitchell depot corridor and the Gungahlin–City route ramped up from mid-2016, reshaping Flemington Road and Northbourne Avenue for a dedicated light rail median.

Stage 1 opens

Passenger services on Stage 1 began on 20 April 2019, linking Gungahlin Place to Alinga Street over about 12 kilometres. The line launched with a core set of stops; the Sandford Street stop in Mitchell was added later, opening to passengers in September 2021 and bringing the Stage 1 stop count to 14.

Operations are delivered by Canberra Metro Operations (CMET) under the long-term consortium arrangements that financed and built the line, with Transport Canberra as the public face of the integrated network.

Fleet and technology

Stage 1 runs CAF Urbos low-floor vehicles (Urbos 3 family) with level boarding and priority seating. As Stage 2A preparations advanced, additional vehicles with wire-free capability were ordered so trams can operate in areas where overhead wiring is restricted by National Capital Authority requirements.

Stage 2: toward the lake and Woden

Extending south of Civic proved more complex than Stage 1’s northern corridor. The ACT Government selected a Woden-oriented Stage 2 direction, later splitting delivery into Stage 2A (City toward Commonwealth Park) and Stage 2B (onward toward Woden). Stage 2A construction is underway with passenger services targeted around 2028; Stage 2B remains a longer planning exercise. See our Stage 2 updates page for visitor-focused status language, and the official Light rail to Woden program for primary source material.

Why history matters for riders

• Stage 1 is a finished product you can plan a day around.
• Stage 2 photos and wires in Civic do not mean the extension is open.
• Stop names and counts have already evolved once (Sandford Street) — always check CMET lists.