Canberra Light Rail Stage 2A Reaches Milestone Track and Stop Construction Along London Circuit Corridor

Track Installation Across London Circuit Connects City Centre to South Corridor

CANBERRA, Australia — Major Projects Canberra, in close operational delivery with the Canberra Metro consortium, has marked decisive construction progress on Stage 2A of the Canberra Light Rail project, successfully installing dual rail tracks across the newly configured London Circuit and Commonwealth Avenue intersection. Extending the existing northern light rail spine 1.7 kilometres south toward Commonwealth Park, the project represents the capital’s most complex urban infrastructure delivery since the network's original inception.

The milestone builds directly upon the historic engineering completion of 'Raising London Circuit,' which saw civil crews elevate the southern roadway by six metres to create an expansive, at-grade multimodal boulevard, eliminating legacy grade separation and establishing an integrated transit spine directly through the capital's civic heart.

Architectural Canopies Erected at City South and Commonwealth Park Stops

Along the emerging transit corridor, structural ironworkers have completed the erection of architectural steel canopies and passenger platforms at two brand-new accessible stops: City South and the Commonwealth Park terminus. Built to universal accessibility specifications, each stop features tactile ground indicators, low-floor level boarding, digital real-time departure screens, and sheltered bicycle parking bays.

The strategic placement of the Commonwealth Park station provides high-capacity, turn-up-and-go public transit for marquee national events—including the annual Floriade festival, cultural exhibitions, and major community gatherings along Lake Burley Griffin—diverting thousands of private vehicle trips away from central parklands.

Catenary-Free Battery Trams to Preserve Heritage Parliamentary Vistas

A defining technological feature of Stage 2A is the adoption of wire-free light rail operations. To protect the scenic architectural vistas of Walter Burley Griffin’s nationally significant Parliamentary Triangle, light rail vehicles will run along Commonwealth Avenue without overhead catenary wires or supporting poles.

The ACT's expanded fleet of CAF Urbos 100 trams is equipped with advanced onboard energy storage systems (OESS), utilizing roof-mounted lithium-ion traction batteries that recharge automatically via rapid conductive charging while berthed at station platforms and during regenerative braking cycles, combining clean electric mobility with sensitive heritage preservation.

Civic Realm Enhancements Pave the Way for Testing and Future Woden Link

Complementing the rail alignment, ACT municipal crews have delivered extensive streetscape upgrades, including widened, tree-lined pedestrian footpaths in front of the heritage Sydney and Melbourne buildings, dedicated bi-directional cycling lanes, and integrated bio-retention garden beds that manage urban stormwater runoff sustainably.

With civil works tracking toward substantial completion in 2027, system commissioning, wire-free testing, and driver certification will ramp up ahead of commercial passenger operations in early 2028, providing the indispensable operational foundation for Stage 2B across Lake Burley Griffin to Woden.