$2.75b announced for Qld’s ‘next big rail project’ – but it will need much more

The news

Years after it was first floated, the multibillion-dollar expansion of Brisbane’s passenger train network to the Sunshine Coast has finally had a construction funding commitment from the state – but it will still need more.

Deputy Premier Cameron Dick and Labor government colleagues have pledged an initial $2.75 billion – based on long-awaited business case estimates – for a 19-kilometre link from the existing line at Beerwah to Caloundra.

An artist’s impression of one of the stations along the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line.Credit: The Department of Transport and Main Roads

However, to be finished ahead of the 2032 Games, the federal government would need to lift its current $1.6 billion commitment to match the state’s funding for what is now proposed to be a three-stage project, Dick said.

The first stage, the $5.5 billion to $7 billion Beerwah to Caloundra link, is about half of the planned route to Maroochydore’s CBD.

Why it matters

The project, dubbed Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line, is part of the vision for an Olympic Games legacy of improved transport links across the south-east.

While the federal Labor government acknowledged its importance amid a recent review of projects, it also expressed a lack of confidence in Morrison government estimates that the entire link could be built for $3.2 billion.

Similar misgivings were held by the state government, which has spent $14 million on the now-finished, but not publicly released, business case. No new estimate for the project’s total cost has been given.

The state government’s new staged approach to the Sunshine Coast rail link, with stage one in green.

What they said

Dick told journalists during a media conference at Beerwah Station on Sunday that the business case found the project “stacks up” and would make it easier for residents and tourists to travel to and from Brisbane.

With rapid population growth in the region and further development planned for Caloundra South and Beerwah East, the state government says the first stage will help enable future growth in such areas and accelerate the delivery of more than 3000 already planned affordable and diverse homes.

Transport Minister Bart Mellish said the train would make a Caloundra to Brisbane trip – typically 90 minutes, but up to three hours with congestion or other delays – “up to 45 minutes faster” than a car.

“This is the next big rail project for Queensland after Cross River Rail,” he said. A summary of the business case is expected to be made public in coming months.

Another point of view

In November, the LNP opposition criticised Labor for a lack of allocated construction funding for the project. On Sunday, it sought to frame the announcement as a “cut” to a project that would have been under construction had it won government in 2020.

Addressing journalists on the coast, the party’s Maroochydore MP, Fiona Simpson, said Labor was stringing people along with the rail link, and suggested it could turn Caloundra into a car park.

What’s next

Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King confirmed her department had received the business case, which would be assessed and inform advice to her government as part of its budget process.

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