Opening the Woden light rail extension to passengers in sections as the project is built in an effort to get people moving to the parliamentary triangle faster is an idea Chief Minister Andrew Barr wants considered.
The plan, which would effectively split up completion times for stage 2B between Commonwealth Park and Woden, would depend on further analysis and procurement.
Mr Barr said the idea, first raised by the Public Transport Association of Canberra, was worth exploring.
"Do you look to stage and open the first half, if you like, sooner? And that is an interesting debate to have. I can see merit in the staged opening outcomes," Mr Barr told The Canberra Times.
"It's an interesting question around the procurement."
Mr Barr said the move would depend on the construction contract and the federal government's willingness to partner with the territory on the project.
"That idea that PTCBR [the Public Transport Association of Canberra] have put forward deserves consideration in this next period. So that will obviously be discussed and contemplated over the next piece of work," he said.
A construction contract for stage 2B of the light rail project is not due to be signed until after the 2028 election.
Work on the final concept design and environmental approvals is expected to continue until mid next year, before detailed design and planning approvals are completed between mid-2025 and mid-2028.
Between mid-2027 and mid-2029, the stage 2B business case would be finished and considered, main works procurement would take place and a contract awarded.
The government expects construction to take about four years with a testing and commissioning phase of up to a year after construction is complete.
A new bridge will need to be constructed between the current spans of Commonwealth Avenue bridge, with works timed so they do not clash with a National Capital Authority project to expand the existing structure.
Mr Barr in March said the government was working towards a construction period of 2028 to 2033 for the Woden light rail project.
However, a staged completion of the complex 2B section could mean passengers are able to catch light rail to the Parliamentary Triangle sooner.
Mr Barr said taking light rail over Lake Burley Griffin was challenging, but connecting the service to the Parliamentary Triangle would deliver significant benefits.
"The point I make about the national triangle and why that's important, even though it's not going to deliver a housing uplift, is that there's 50,000 jobs and growing. There's one in five jobs," Mr Barr said.
"It's a destination for work and it's home to some of our city's biggest tourist attractions. Five million tourists a year are going into that precinct, so it is a logical next step."
Mr Barr said he expected a level of debate about the future of light rail in Canberra to be a feature of election campaigns as far out as the 2032 election, but there was broader community understanding of the benefits.
"So I think the project and the concept and the technology has majority community support, but I have acknowledged ... that there is a significant minority who are opposed, and they are very passionately opposed," he said.
"I don't think we should expect that there will never be discussion or debate about light rail.
"So, even though this is, feels like, well, election number four, I suspect that this one and possibly the next and maybe even the one beyond will still have an element of debate about extension of the network."
The government in 2019 announced it would split the light rail project in two, in an effort to speed up construction on the first half while the complex approvals for the second part were sought.
At the time, Transport Minister Chris Steel said stage 2A could be completed as early as 2023. The timeline for the project was pushed out during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A $577 million construction contract for stage 2A was signed in December 2023.
Construction will start from late-2024 and is expected to take about three years, meaning the 1.7-kilometre extension will open in January 2028, more than 8.5 years after the first stage opened between Gungahlin and the city.
The original 12-kilometre project had a construction cost of $675 million - $32 million under budget.
The Canberra Liberals are opposed to extending light rail beyond Commonwealth Park, having argued the project was unaffordable at a cost of more than $4 billion.
