Lie trail

Haven't you been following the light rail saga? It's being driven for ideological reasons rather than sensible ones - or even plausibly sensible ones. Let me list some of the stupidities:

1. Its cost is being entirely carried by the ACT as Infrastructure Australia says the cost benefit ratio doesn't warrant support by the Federal Government.

2. There is a high risk of cost overruns because of the way it's being done. For example, the costings rely on the ACT Government identifying all the infrastructure that's already buried under Northbourne Ave.

3. The ACT Government subsidy of the operating cost per year will be the same as that for the entire current ACTION network.

4. The disaster that will be Northbourne Ave during construction, and the subsequent change in the appearance on Northbourne Ave - noting that none of the publicity drawings of the light rail show the overhead wires or their pylons.

All these things have been pointed out to the ACT Government but have had no effect on the decision to build it.