Gold Coast Light Rail: Tweed Extension still on the table

A proposal to bring the Gold Coast light rail to Tweed Heads appears to be on track amid “white elephant” concerns from the mayor who believes electric buses may be a better option.

A cross-border extension of the $2.7b Gold Coast light rail from Coolangatta Airport to Tweed City is on the horizon as a feasibility case is prepared.

The two options being investigated include a light rail link from Coolangatta Airport to Tweed Heads, with a second option extending to Tweed City.

The route would use the former Nerang-Tweed railway and continue through Coolangatta to Bay St, Wharf St and then Minjungbal Drive.

Member for Tweed, Geoff Provest, has taken responsibility for getting the ball rolling on the project, saying it’s a priority to reserve the route down to Tweed City and create a new regional transit hub with a direct connection from Tweed City to Coolangatta Airport.

“With Queensland getting the Olympics and the federal government putting funding towards the light rail, it’s common sense to be part of the procedure rather than wait for it to come,” Mr Provest said.

“Thirty per cent of the people in Tweed work in Queensland, which is why we have increased an extra 400 local bus services.”

A concept map of the Tweed light rail.

Member for Richmond, Justine Elliot, said the Tweed light rail study was a herring - saying that the Queensland Government had built and delivered heavy and light rail to the Gold Coast in the time Mr Provest had been in office.

“Connecting the light rail to Tweed has the potential for great benefits for our community, yet this has become just another broken promise by Geoff Provest and his NSW Liberal-Nationals Government, Ms Elliot said.

“It’s now been more than three-and-a-half years since Geoff Provest promised a $1 million study for the strategic planning required for the project. To date, nothing has been produced.”

Tweed mayor Chris Cherry said she was not convinced light rail was the right option and opted for dedicated electric bus lanes to provide more efficient public transport.

“I understand there is a proposal to bring light rail down to Tweed but believe there is not the population base needed to justify this expenditure,” Ms Cherry said.

“We need to look to more cost-effective transport such as electric buses in dedicated corridors so that we can be resilient into the future rather than building a white elephant.”

A spokesperson from Transport for NSW said they’re working closely with Tweed Shire Council, the Department of Planning and Environment and the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads to identify a possible light rail corridor and functional layout that could leverage an extension opportunity.

An update on the feasibility of the project is expected in the coming year as the Queensland Government announces the preliminary business case for Stage 4 of the Light Rail from Burleigh Heads to Coolangatta by mid-2023.