RTBU Tasmania

03/09/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19kyGxFBi3/

For all the anti-rail brigade who believe everything the Liberal State Government says, here’s a reminder of just what they are planning to do.
The ‘busway’ will destroy 4km of the railway line (the red part on the map), and the rest of it will not be a busway at all but simply another bus route.
This means that with only a short distance of the busway ‘isolated’ from the rest of the road network, it will NOT be ‘Rapid’ nor will it have any chance of avoiding serious traffic congestion.

The total cost of the entire Bus ‘Rapid’ Network is at least $860 million! (rail will be LESS than $300m). The Northern Suburbs part will be the most expensive section, thanks to the plan to destroy part of the railway. If the busway used more of the railway corridor, that cost would increase further.
So, you know what to do! Sign the petition!
https://haepetitions.parliament.tas.gov.au/haepet/Home/PetitionDetails/150?title=Petition%20Details

The McKell report commissioned by the RTBU shows that buses will not be able to cope with large crowds from the planned stadium, and the PWC report shows that the busway will generate less than a quarter of the benefits that rail does. For the busway to be ‘viable’ it needs to cost a quarter of the amount that rail does, and even then you will still only get those lesser benefits.
A reminder the Benefit-Cost ratio identified in the BRN business case is just 0.28, just 28 cents worth of benefits for every dollar spent!

There is only TWO choices here. Keep rail, and use it as a commuter railway, or destroy it for no particularly good reason just for the sake of it (or if you really want a third option -nothing -which is what has happened for the last 12 years!).

We have heard all of the arguments against rail. The most common gripe is the alleged cost of rail.
Well, are you all happy with the cost of the busway?
Always silence, of course.
Oh and putting extra lanes on the Brooker? Even more ($1billion+)

And as we have previously pointed out, the state government has lied about the cost of rail, their reports have deliberately exaggerated the cost of rail, and now their plan is to destroy the railway line at great expense, even though what we get from that won’t achieve any of the things we need it to do.

Josh Willie MP
Peter George - Independent Member for Franklin
Rebecca White
Helen Burnet MP - Independent Member for Clark
David O'Byrne MP
Ella Haddad MP
Cassy O'Connor MLC, Tasmanian Greens Member for Hobart
Sue Hickey
Anna Reynolds, Hobart Lord Mayor
Vica Bayley MP
Jen Butler MP
Deputy Lord Mayor - Dr Zelinda Sherlock
Andrew Wilkie MP - Independent Member for Clark
Kristie Johnston - Independent Member for Clark

29/08/2026

The other side to losing the Hobart rail corridor for the "bus lane to nowhere".
"https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19RqhbzytY/

Twenty-seven years ago today the Tasmanian Transport Museum ran several shuttle trips from Hobart to Glenorchy using former TGR Pacific locomotive no.M5. She is seen here moving past the carriages in front of the Regatta Stand at Hobart.
29th August 1999. 📷T.Rowallan.
These tracks have now been pulled up and the State Government is planning to put an access road through here for the stadium. Scenes such as this will be impossible to repeat unless we can get them to change their mind.
Go here to sign the petition for rail -we need as many signatures as possible so that they can't ignore the call - railway not busway!
https://haepetitions.parliament.tas.gov.au/haepet/Home/PetitionDetails/150?title=Petition%20Details

27/08/2026

Waking to this disaster in Nepal is quite a shock.

To our brilliant Nepalese members, and the wider Nepalese community, we hope all of your families still in Nepal are safe.

Please do talk with our RTBU Tasmania delegates, you are not alone 🇳🇵

🎥 ABC News

21/08/2026

A reminder the State Government's 'Rapid' Bus Network as planned will cost at least $860 million, and has a net cost-benefit ratio of 0.28 - in other words, NOT VIABLE!
Sign the petition started by RTBU Tasmania here;
https://haepetitions.parliament.tas.gov.au/haepet/Home/PetitionDetails/%20150


Sue Hickey
Kristie Johnston - Independent Member for Clark
Helen Burnet MP - Independent Member for Clark
David O'Byrne MP
Peter George - Independent Member for Franklin
Cassy O'Connor MLC, Tasmanian Greens Member for Hobart
Jen Butler MP
Josh Willie MP
Rebecca White
Vica Bayley MP

13/08/2026

Time for the people of Tasmania to be heard.

Follow the link, sign the petition, get everyone you know to get on board! 🛤️🚉🚅

Work has begun on a billion-dollar stadium at Macquarie Point. There’s just one problem: there’s no reliable transport plan to get people there.

A new report from the McKell Institute, Connecting Macquarie Point, shows that Australian stadiums built without direct, high-capacity transport options underperform and fail to reach their full potential.

The good news is that there is a ready-made solution: revitalising a government-owned disused rail corridor and
transforming it into light rail.

Light rail is about more than getting people to the footy. It would connect the northern suburbs to the city, reduce traffic congestion and unlock the housing that Hobart desperately needs.

The benefits of light rail as a credible transport solution are too large to ignore.

That’s why we’re calling on governments to:
✅Commission a full business case for light rail along the northern corridor and carry it through to cost-benefit analysis
✅Protect the northern rail corridor from being built over or stripped of its legal protection
✅Commission a value capture feasibility study to quantify the uplift potential along the corridor and at Macquarie Point; and
✅Release the $25 million committed in the 2018 Hobart City Deal to light rail planning

Sign our petition and call on the Tasmanian Government to kick-start light rail for Hobart’s future.

Petition link here: https://haepetitions.parliament.tas.gov.au/haepet/Home/PetitionDetails/150?title=Petition%20Details

11/08/2026

11/08/2026

05/08/2026

Last night, community members braved the cold to discuss a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a properly connected city: revitalising a government-owned disused rail corridor and transforming it into light rail running directly to Hobart’s new stadium.

We heard from the The McKell Institute about their new report, which shows that stadiums without direct, high-capacity public transport options underperform and fail to reach their full potential.

We heard that moving more than 23,000 spectators by bus will place enormous pressure on an overstretched and under-resourced network. Instead of reducing congestion, it risks making things worse, frustrating fans and locals.

At $1.13 billion and climbing, the Macquarie Point stadium cannot afford to underperform, and the higher the cost, the greater the risk of building it without the transport to fill it.

It’s time to deliver a transport system Tasmania deserves.

Thank you to everyone who attended the briefing. RTBU Tasmania

Read the full report, Connecting Macquarie Point: the case for light rail to Hobart’s future stadium, here:https://mckellinstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/RTBU-Final.pdf