The opposition will call on the ACT government to outline its contingency plans for Canberra's light rail system if its rolling stock experiences a fault seen in the same model vehicles in Sydney and around the world.
The opposition spokesman on transport, Mark Parton, will move a motion in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, calling for the ACT government to report on the risks to the ACT's light rail fleet by early next year, and advise on what contingency plans are in place.
Sydney's inner-west light rail line was last week decommissioned for 18 months after the state's transport authority identified a cracking issue in all the vehicles on the fleet, which is manufactured by CAF in Spain.
Canberra's light rail vehicles are the same model as those used in Sydney, and the ACT government on Friday moved to assess its own fleet even though there is no evidence the issue had been identified in the territory.
A spokesman said the ACT government was aware of the issue in Sydney and was engaging with the NSW government and Canberra Metro, which operates the Canberra light rail line between Gungahlin and the city.
"Canberra's light rail system undergoes ongoing safety and serviceability checks. This has not identified any issues to date. Canberra Metro will be undertaking regular inspections to check for this issue in addition to the regular maintenance and inspection program already in place," the spokesman said.
MORE A.C.T. POLITICS NEWS:
- Wanted: mountains of clean dirt to dump on Canberra's doorstep
- States to join forces in a first for climate action
- Wave of power pole replacements approaching in ACT, report suggests
Mr Parton said the ACT potentially faced problems with the light rail vehicles in Canberra, and the government needed to provide information to the community about what it would do in the event the cracking problem happened locally.
"The serious issue of cracking in these light rail vehicles has occurred in many jurisdictions around the world including Belgrade, Serbia, Birmingham, United Kingdom, and Besanon, France," Mr Parton said.
The ACT government has previously pointed to a different style of track in Canberra and a younger fleet as reasons the cracking problem was not an issue locally.
