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Journalists and some chosen citizens wait to take the first ride of the light rail at the station of Gungahlin Place in Canberra, Australia, April 18, 2019. The long-awaited light rail in Australia's capital Canberra will be open to public on Saturday. Linking Gungahlin Place in the north and Alinga Street in the city center, the route stretches about 12 km, with 13 stops. The ride takes 24 minutes. (Xinhua/Zhang Xinxin)

CANBERRA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The long-awaited light rail in Australia's capital Canberra will be open to public on Saturday.

Linking Gungahlin Place in the north and Alinga Street in the city center, the route stretches about 12 km, with 13 stops. The ride takes 24 minutes.

"It is a very very exciting day," Andrew Barr, chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), told Xinhua on Thursday. "People have been looking forward to the opening of light rail for some time."

"It will make a big difference to the fastest-growing area of Canberra to be able to transport thousands of people into our city center each day," he said.

Minister for Transport in the ACT government Meegan Fitzharris said "this is the biggest change to public transport since our city was founded... The passenger experience will keep getting better as drivers get used to taking passengers and journey times and frequency continue to improve."

Media in Canberra and some lucky citizens were invited on Thursday for the first ride. Large crowd waited at the terminus of Gungahlin Place, taking photos while waiting for the train.

Wally Bell, a Ngunawal elder, welcomed the first ride with aboriginal ritual. "It is beneficial for people from Gungahlin down to the city," he said.

Sitting on the train, Megan Whittle's four-year-old daughter looked out of the window attentively, while her younger kid, one year old, enjoyed the ride quietly.

"We simply entered the ballot and put our details in," Whittle told Xinhua. She was among the 150 chosen for the first ride out of thousands of entries. "So we are really very lucky. My daughter is excited all week."

She said that it was a lovely vehicle. "Lovely and comfortable, with lots of big windows for the kids to see outside. Nice travel experience."

Talking about the benefit of the light rail, Whittle believed it is useful for people living close to the route. "It seems a much faster way to get between one terminus and another," she said.

Andrew Barr said the next stage proposed for the light rail project is to continue southward into the parliamentary crescent and then to Woden in the south of Canberra city.

Construction of Canberra light rail started in July 2016, and testing of light rail vehicles on the track commenced in June 2018. According to information on the ACT government website, every week the light rail vehicles will complete 1,494 trips of alignment, travelling almost 18,000 km which is more than a full trip around Australia.

People in Canberra are encouraged to try the light rail by local government, as the new public transport network kicks off a month of free travel for anyone with local transportation card from April 29.