Let’s get creative, Canberra! Suggest names for the new Light Rail. Photo: Supplied.
OK, I admit I’m a bit of a light rail nerd. Having studied mechanical engineering before I ended up working in politics, the design, scale, and durability of rail transport has always been attractive. The prospect of the first line of the new Canberra Metro Light Rail Network opening next year is exciting for lots of reasons, including 14 shiny new red Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs).
The journey for Canberra's first light rail vehicle has officially begun!
Posted by Meegan Fitzharris MLA on Tuesday, November 7, 2017
As one of the new vehicles is already on its way to Canberra from their manufacturer in Spain, it won’t be long before we see it running up and down Northbourne Avenue, past the gridlock during the morning and afternoon peak hour traffic. RiotACT readers and everyone you know, time to put on your thinking caps and think of some sexy names for Canberra’s new Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs)!
Like all big LRV nerds in Canberra, I consumed all the information provided by ACT LightRail up to and including their transformation into The Public Transport Association of Canberra, led by the inimitable Damien Haas. The PTCBR Facebook Group recently reported that our City’s journal of record wrote a short article encouraging its readers to participate in a poll of possible names for Canberra’s new LRVs. However, like a few PTCBR fans I was disappointed with the odd name suggestions and the small number of survey responses to this online poll.
So here you go Canberra, this is your second chance to contribute to this important public discourse! What do you and your friends and family think the new vehicles should be called? Remember, these LRVs will eventually be part of a city-wide network that will probably eventually carry millions of people and certainly outlive all the current Canberra Times readership. We will present the winning name in this poll to someone in the ACT Government and formally request it be included in their consideration for the name of at least one of the new trams.
An artist’s impression of one of the new Canberra Light Rail Vehicles. Photo: Supplied.
It’s getting late on a weekend. So far our writer has had three homebrew beers and has come up with these suggestions below… (and admits to stealing a few from the PTCBR Facebook page).
Loading ...(If you have any other name suggestions please include in the comments section below).
The Canberra Times survey for suggested names of the new Canberra Trams received 620 votes by the time the poll closed. We hope to get more votes and funnier suggestions via the RiotACT readership. If you have any better suggestions, please include them in the comments below and in the RiotACT facebook comments. If your suggestions are awesome enough our editors will amend the poll to include them as well. The writer has also promised to do a follow-up story with anyone who has a hilarious suggestion and is also nerdy enough to join him for a close-up when the first LRV arrives in Canberra in a few weeks.
Elias Hallaj (aka CBRfoodie) is a part-time food blogger and a full-time political staffer who has joined RiotACT as a regular contributor. All his opinions about LRVs are his own. As an aspiring food writer he hopes that one of the new LRV’s will eventually be converted to a travelling restaurant or food truck (or food train?). If you have any tips or feedback or advice about light rail or food around Canberra you can add a comment below or find him most nights on Twitter @CBRfoodie.
