High speed rail Gold Coast: Study shows population, house prices surge

New analysis shows high speed rail would lead to a population boom and higher house prices on the Gold Coast. FULL DETAILS

THE Gold Coast’s already booming population will surge by up to 100,000 and property prices will jump another 14 per cent if a high-speed rail line is built, a new study says.

A report by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) City Futures Research Centre examined the likely effects of a high-speed rail line stretching from Melbourne to Brisbane as proposed in a Department of Infrastructure and Transport report in 2013.

The route includes a spur line to the Gold Coast terminating at Robina, with trips to Brisbane taking just 28 minutes.

Report authors suggest policymakers should consider how to funnel economic growth from the line – estimated at $48-140bn – to help offset costs.

“The total value uplift could actually be higher,” said Professor Christopher Pettit, director of UNSW City Futures Research Centre.

“... If you were to capture a substantial proportion of this value uplift, it could pay for a huge amount of the high-speed rail.”

An artist impression shows 3D renderings of a proposed high speed rail system connecting Sydney with Wollongong, Canberra and Newcastle. Picture: Supplied

Prof Pettit said economic benefits would likely be even greater for the Gold Coast than the report suggests, with the line helping to attract new industries to the city.

“There’s a lot of potential there for really bringing in new economic activity and setting the Gold Coast up as a stronger economic hub,” he said.

“High speed rail would make the connection to Brisbane quicker, but importantly, also Sydney and Canberra.

“To be able to connect to the financial hub of Australia in Sydney through high speed rail would have big benefits in taking the Gold Coast through to that next tier of city.”

Fast rail between the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Sunshine Coast was touted as a major project that could be delivered ahead of the 2032 Olympic Games. However, State Transport Minister Mark Bailey told the Bulletin last November that there was virtually no chance it would be built between Brisbane and the Gold Coast in time for the Games after Infrastructure Australia found the project was not viable.

Route of the proposed high speed rail line between Melbourne and Brisbane.

However high-speed rail is back on the federal Labor agenda with leader Anthony Albanese last month promising to spend $500m to get work underway on a first stage between Sydney and Newcastle if he won May’s election.

“Trains make sense,” Mr Albanese said. “We’re the only island continent that’s inhabited on the planet that is not building high-speed rail.”

Mr Albanese said high-speed rail would provide a “legacy” like other public transport projects such as the Gold Coast light rail. “This is a project whose time has come.”

Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher criticised Mr Albanese’s plans, saying a line from Melbourne to Brisbane would cost $200-300bn.

“You know it’s the media silly season when Anthony Albanese is trotting out a plan for high-speed rail up and down the east coast,” he said.

The state and federal governments are keen to extend the heavy rail line from Varsity Lakes to Gold Coast Airport. An $8m federal government study on the proposed heavy rail extension is due to be completed early this year.

McPherson MP and Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said late last year that the extension was key to the city’s future.

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