GET BACK ON THE RAILS

WE have said it before and we will say it again — a light rail to Hobart’s northern suburbs is an absolute nobrainer. And we certainly didn’ t need a $300,000 consultant’s report, which comes after 23 previous reports on the same topic, to arrive at that conclusion.

Hobart has a housing crisis, there is ample land to the north that could be used for affordable housing.

Hobart has congestion issues and a poor uptake of public transport usage.

Hobart is also in the en viable position of having a pre-existing rail corridor that runs from the north directly into the city.

It is easy to see why Glenorchy Mayor Kristie Johnston and Northern Suburbs Rail Action Group president Michael Hangan are frustrated with the government’ s inaction and Mr Hangan hits the nail on the head.

“Every other Australian capital city is progressing urban rail projects, yet in Hobart we’re stuck in the slow lane — still pondering if rail is the best mode for a rail corridor, ”he said.

Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne commuters all have at least three options between buses, trains, trams or ferries.

The Department of State Growth has awarded almost $2m to consultants on a range of projects related to fixing Hobart’s traffic. As part of that, in October last year, the state government awarded consultant GHD a $762,000 contract to conduct a feasibility study to look at ways to divert traffic around central Hobart.

It was released in September this year and said a western bypass of the CBD was technically feasible but would cost $3.4bn, require a population of about two million people to be viable and would save motorist s just two to four minutes per trip.

The government said it wouldn’t be built.

Finally the government has moved to trial a small-scale ferry operation across the Derwent but for it to work, the route needs to be far more significant than the Sul li vans Cove to Belle rive proposal.

It doesn’t take a multi-million-dollar business case or a $500,000 consultant to tell you that it’s nearly impossible to turn a profit out of public transport.

It will cost taxpayers to have improved publictransport.

But when we have the lowest per capita investment in public transport in the country — combined with a housing crisis — surely there’ s some room to move.

Our governments need to invest in new public transport with a sense of urgency. They need to have the vision to build the stuff now that will be needed in five or 15 years.

It maybe expensive, but ultimately these are big-ticket items we can’t afford to do without.