The Federation Line proposal was abandoned in 2005 after neither the ACT Government nor the Commonwealth Government was prepared to commit the necessary funds for construction.

Walter Burley Griffin envisaged a tram network for Canberra. Indeed one of the conditions of the design competition, won by Griffin, was: "Designers should bear in mind the necessity for providing inter-communication between distant parts of the city by means of tramways."

The best source for information on this is 'Canberra following Griffin' by Paul Reid, published in 2002 by National Archives of Australia - ISBN 0 642 34447 7. The attached map, originally published in 1912, is reproduced from that book. A number of streets in the central area of Canberra have wide medians originally designed for tramways. In the 1950s and 1960s the very wide medians in the main roads connecting the town centres were designated for transit use. A bus-only road passing beneath a local road as it enters the Belconnen bus interchange was designed to have sufficient clearance for Sydney double-deck trains. There are no current plans for Canberra's public transport other than buses.

The link to the map is: http://tdu.to/Griffin's_Canberra_Street_Car_Lines.jpg

Information supplied by Dale Budd in Canberra.

Bob M

----- Original Message -----
From: Geoffrey Hansen
Subject: [TramsDownUnder] Federation line proposal?

I was just wondering what happened to the Federation Tramway proposal in
Canberra? Is it still going to go ahead or has it been cancelled?

Also I've heard that there are medians and wide streets in Canberra that
were intended for trams. Are these all over Canberra or just in certain
parts. If so where?

Thanks
Geoffrey