5 April 2018

Student ambassadors to spread light rail safety message

| Ian Bushnell
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Student Ambassadors for Light Rail Safety with their information packs at Gungahlin College. Photo: Supplied.

The ACT Government has launched its education program for using the light rail system safely at an event at Gungahlin College on Thursday (5 April) attended by representatives of the nine schools along the route.

Students who will be Ambassadors for Light Rail Safety were welcomed by Minister for Transport and City Services, Meegan Fitzharris, who said that while the project had reached an exciting stage it was important people were aware of coming changes to roads, footpaths and pedestrian crossings along the route.

The Minister said Stage one from Gungahlin to Civic was on track to be completed later this year, with two of the next major milestones being the electrification of overhead wires and vehicle testing this month.

She said the Rail Ready Light Rail Safety Program aimed to ensure people knew how to keep safe when they were walking, cycling or driving near the light rail system, as well as ensuring people with a disability were able to use light rail safely and knew how to navigate the system.

Testing of light rail vehicles on live track will start soon. File photo

“Some important things to remember about the light rail system are that the overhead wires will be live so don’t go near them, after it has been raining the tracks may be slippery, and the vehicles are wider than the tracks so make sure you keep a safe distance,” she said.

“I’m sure for many of us this will be our first experience with a light rail system, so learning how to use it, being safe and knowing what to look out for will be really important.”

Ms Fitzharris said the student Ambassadors would play an important role in sharing the Rail Ready messages, passing on what they learned with their friends and family and helping spread the word.

“If everyone follows the rules we will all stay safe when light rail starts in Canberra,” Ms Fitzharris said.

Transport Canberra and Canberra Metro are working together to deliver the Rail Ready safety campaign to the Canberra community.

Rail Ready safety information is available at www.canberra-metro.com.au including safety tips, brochures and posters for download.

What do you think about this initiative? Share your thoughts with us by commenting below.

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Capital Retro9:49 pm 07 Apr 18

We should be proud of our ACT government in apparently being able to deliver this project on time and on budget.

We really have shown NSW how it should be done: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-07/light-rail-contractor-sues-nsw-government/9629948

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