The construction of the light rail line was part of a deal struck between the Labor Party and The Greens following the 2012 Australian Capital Territory Election, at which Labor required Greens support to form government.
In the 2013/14 ACT budget, $5 million was allocated for early design work.
In September 2014, the business case was approved by the government.
The project, known as Capital Metro during planning, was developed by the government agency Capital Metro Agency (CMA).

The line was to be delivered under a public private partnership.
Expressions of interest were received from the following consortia:
ACTivate: Downer Group, Plenary Group, Bombardier and Keolis Downer
Canberra Metro: Pacific Partnerships, Mitsubishi Corporation, John Holland, CAF, Deutsche Bahn, Aberdeen Asset Management, Leighton Contractors, and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi
CANGO: Macquarie Capital Group, Obrascon Huarte Lain, SMRT International, UGL Rail and Siemens
Connecting Canberra: Capella Capital, Transdev, Alstom and Acciona Infrastructure
In March 2015, the government announced that ACTivate and Canberra Metro had been selected to move on to the Request for Proposal stage of the procurement process.
The bidders submitted their final proposals for the Gungahlin to the city route on 4 September and had an additional four weeks to submit their proposals for a potential expansion of the project, from the city to Russell.
The Canberra Metro consortium was announced as the preferred tenderer in February 2016 and the contract was finalised in May. Under the contract, Canberra Metro will operate and maintain the line for 20 years, after which ownership will pass to the ACT Government.

Design and construction costs was budgeted at $707 million.
The Federal Government contributed $67 million to the project.
Commencement of construction was marked by a sod-turning in the northern suburb of Mitchell at the site of the depot on 12 July 2016.
Major construction of the route itself began towards the end of the year.

The opposition Liberal Party opposed the project.
In April 2015, the party announced it would cancel any contracts for the light rail if it won the 2016 ACT election.
A year out from the poll, the light rail project was already predicted to be the election's major issue.
As predicted, the light rail project was the major issue of the campaign.
The election saw the Labor government returned, with the party claiming the result as an endorsement of the project.

The CMA was amalgamated into a new government directorate, the Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate (TCCS), on 1 July 2016, resulting in the responsibility for the project transferred to the TCCS.

Testing of the line began in June 2018.
A section in Gungahlin was electrified and one of the trams made trial runs.
All 14 trams have arrived in Canberra and it was hoped to have the project completed by the end of 2018.
The light rail eventually opened on 20 April 2019.
The construction of the light rail line was part of a deal struck between the Labor Party and The Greens following the 2012 Australian Capital Territory Election, at which Labor required Greens support to form government. In the 2013/14 ACT budget, $5 million was allocated for early design work. In September 2014, the business case was approved by the government. The project, known as Capital Metro during planning, was developed by the government agency Capital Metro Agency (CMA).
The line was to be delivered under a public private partnership. Expressions of interest were received from the following consortia:
ACTivate: Downer Group, Plenary Group, Bombardier and Keolis Downer
Canberra Metro: Pacific Partnerships, Mitsubishi Corporation, John Holland, CAF, Deutsche Bahn, Aberdeen Asset Management, Leighton Contractors, and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi
CANGO: Macquarie Capital Group, Obrascon Huarte Lain, SMRT International, UGL Rail and Siemens
Connecting Canberra: Capella Capital, Transdev, Alstom and Acciona Infrastructure
In March 2015, the government announced that ACTivate and Canberra Metro had been selected to move on to the Request for Proposal stage of the procurement process. The bidders submitted their final proposals for the Gungahlin to the city route on 4 September and had an additional four weeks to submit their proposals for a potential expansion of the project, from the city to Russell. The Canberra Metro consortium was announced as the preferred tenderer in February 2016 and the contract was finalised in May. Under the contract, Canberra Metro will operate and maintain the line for 20 years, after which ownership will pass to the ACT Government.
Design and construction costs was budgeted at $707 million. The Federal Government contributed $67 million to the project. Commencement of construction was marked by a sod-turning in the northern suburb of Mitchell at the site of the depot on 12 July 2016. Major construction of the route itself began towards the end of the year.
The opposition Liberal Party opposed the project. In April 2015, the party announced it would cancel any contracts for the light rail if it won the 2016 ACT election. A year out from the poll, the light rail project was already predicted to be the election's major issue. As predicted, the light rail project was the major issue of the campaign. The election saw the Labor government returned, with the party claiming the result as an endorsement of the project.
The CMA was amalgamated into a new government directorate, the Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate (TCCS), on 1 July 2016, resulting in the responsibility for the project transferred to the TCCS.
Testing of the line began in June 2018. A section in Gungahlin was electrified and one of the trams made trial runs. All 14 trams have arrived in Canberra and it was hoped to have the project completed by the end of 2018. The light rail eventually opened on 20 April 2019.
Light rail in Canberra