Brisbane election 2016: Labor's light rail would link UQ and Newstead

Work on a new $1.2 billion Brisbane light rail system between the University of Queensland and Newstead would begin within the first term of a Labor council administration, lord mayoral candidate Rod Harding pledged on Sunday.

However, the plan was almost entirely dependent on securing both state and federal funding for the project.

Labor lord mayoral candidate Rod Harding wants to reintroduce light rail to Brisbane's public transport network.

Mr Harding said the specifics of nine-kilometre route, including the number of stops, was a "matter for the experts" and would be decided following community consultation.

But he did say the plan would require another river crossing between Dutton Park and UQ and, possibly, a dedicated bridge in the CBD.

The proposed route of Labor's planned light rail system for Brisbane. The dotted line represents the second stage.

Both new bridges had been factored into the $1.2 billion cost, Mr Harding said, which would cost the council $140 million.

That included $20 million for the project's business case and $120 million on capital cost, which accounted for 10 per cent of the total budget.

Mr Harding said the Gold Coast light rail project was funded under a similar model and he was confident both the state and federal governments would get on board the Brisbane light rail.

"We've had discussions with the state, and the Premier is on the record as saying that light rail is something that she likes and certainly we know the Prime Minister is a big fan of light rail" he said.

"So I feel very confident in the discussions I'll have once we produce a business case around light rail in Brisbane."

Mr Harding said the cost of $133 million per kilometre was based "benchmarked against the Sydney light rail experience".

Even with Infrastructure Australia already identifying Brisbane's proposed Cross River Rail as a priority project, Mr Harding said he was confident he would be able to extract even more money from the federal government for the Queensland capital.

"I think these are complementary projects and both of them should be funded and will be funded," he said.

Mr Harding said if the state and federal governments did not offer funding for the project, he could seek support from the private sector.

"There's been no shortage of private sector interest knocking on the door looking at modern light rail in Brisbane, there's no shortage of it," he said.

"I've certainly had commercial-in-confidence discussions, so there is definitely appetite for modern light rail and why wouldn't there be?"

In the future, Mr Harding said the network would be expanded to link the Princess Alexandra and Royal Brisbane and Women's hospitals, along with other destinations such as Suncorp Stadium.

"This was never going to be a single-line project," he said.

"This is bigger than that – it's transformational change."

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said Labor's "sketchy" plan would only add to traffic congestion in Brisbane's inner-city.

Last month, Cr Quirk announced the Liberal National Party's own $1.54 billion Brisbane Metro election commitment last month, which would rubber-tyred tram-like vehicles use a new inner-city subway

"Labor's plan offers nothing for the middle and outer suburbs," he said.

"By contrast, our plan will free up buses in the inner-city to be able to get better services in the middle and outer suburbs of Brisbane."

Cr Quirk also cast doubt on Labor's funding model.

"To suggest with a contribution of less than $200 million on a $1.2 billion project that somehow fairy godmothers are going to come along, I think Labor are kidding themselves," he said.

"What we (the LNP) have is a doable project where I've said we will be the major funder of that project."

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