Rail Action Group President, Ben Johnston, said “We welcome Sustainable Transport Minister Nick McKim’s announcement of an independent review of the Light Rail Business Case and we thank him for listening to our concerns.”
Despite the lack of monetised benefits, under-estimated patronage and diminished travel time savings, Last years study concluded “a positive net benefit was a possible outcome”.
Thus, a legitimate evaluation of the benefits would yield a compelling case for Infrastructure Australia to support the light rail project.
Background
Despite all state political parties committing to the rail project prior to the March 2010 state election, the Northern Suburbs Light Rail Project appeared to be going nowhere, since:
• The State Government did not seek $80m funding for the light rail project in its November 2011 Infrastructure Australia submission. Instead it is seeking $238m for Brooker Highway expansion projects between Hobart and Berriedale.
• The light rail project was not mentioned amongst 178 initiatives in the State Government’s Draft Hobart Capital City Plan 2011-2040.
The 2011 “Light Rail Business Case” by ACIL Tasman and DIER had a number of benefit reducing flaws including:
· Under-estimated demand, due to:
• $3/day parking in Hobart applied to demand model
• Limited school student patronage “maximising peak demand with school students is likely to reduce the overall viability of the LRS”!?
• Limited integration with park ‘n’ ride and feeder buses.
• Limiting the scope to Claremont instead of Brighton
Monetary benefits not included or estimated:
• Economic stimulus (eg. land value capture and TODs near stations)
• Alternate costs of Brooker Hwy capacity improvements
• Social costs of congestion
• Social exclusion
• Environmental pollution
• Tourism
The Hobart Northern Suburbs Rail Action Group was formed to facilitate the establishment of the Hobart Northern Suburbs Passenger Rail Service and the preservation of the rail corridor between Hobart and Brighton for rail services.
Hobart Northern Suburbs Rail Action Group Inc. [email protected] www.facebook.com/HobartRail
