Gold Coast light rail stage 3: Everything you need to know about delays to Broadbeach to Burleigh tram line
It’s the question on everyone’s lips - when will the Broadbeach to Burleigh light rail be built? The state government have revealed the answer and it’s got people hopping mad. SEE WHEN TRAMS WILL BE BUILT >>>>>>
Transport
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GOLD Coasters will not catch the tram from Broadbeach to Burleigh before 2025.
And that’s if a deal is soon struck.
Construction of the $1.1bn, 6.7km light rail extension will now begin in 2022 and take at least three years to finish.
The soonest possible completion date means the project is now at least two years behind the original estimate of a 2023 opening date.
Transport Minister Mark Bailey confirmed a contact between the state government and John Holland Group to build Stage 3 of the tram remained unsigned, more than seven months after the Bulletin revealed the project was facing significant delays and a cost shortfall of more than $326m.
“Queensland’s infrastructure boom has its challenges with costs rising across the construction industry due to so many projects underway across the state,” Mr Bailey said on Tuesday.
“The red-hot construction market is impacting some projects, but the Palaszczuk Labor government remains fully committed to extending light rail to Burleigh and we look forward to early works completing and heavy work starting next year.”
John Holland Group did not respond to Bulletin questions.
Stage 3, which will include eight stations terminating at Burleigh Heads, will cost more than $1bn to build, up from the first-pitched $709m.
Construction is still yet to begin despite the state and federal governments pledging an extra $200m and $126m respectively towards the project in their mid-year budgets.
The state opposition says the government is running a year behind its “self-imposed” schedule. Mr Bailey said that was “a blatant lie”.
Opposition transport spokesman Steve Minnikin said the lack of progress on the key infrastructure project was “shocking”.
“This is another frustrating delay for the people of the Gold Coast and a whole new level of slow from the state government,” he said.
“As we plan towards the Queensland 2032 Olympics, key infrastructure projects must be a top priority.
“Mr Bailey needs to be open and transparent with the people of the Gold Coast and reveal what this hold up actually is.
“Do not be fooled, the early works on the site aren’t the major works which were due to have started by now.”
Stage 3 will now cost more than $150m a kilometre.
In April, political and business leaders feared the delays would endanger the completion of Stage 4 to the border in time for the 2032 Olympic Games. Mr Bailey last week said it was possible the final link would be completed by then.
Revealed: When railway and tram airport extension will be built
THE Gold Coast heavy rail line can be extended from Varsity Lakes to Gold Coast Airport in time for the 2032 Olympic Games.
But only if the council, state and federal governments reach an extraordinary funding deal.
Political leaders say they are increasingly confident both light and heavy rail connections to the airport can be achieved within 11 years, but the cost for both will each top several billion dollars.
A business case is being developed for light rail Stage 4, to run between Burleigh Heads and the border.
Meanwhile, an $8m study on the proposed heavy rail extension is due to be completed in early 2022.
McPherson MP and Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said the extension of the railway was key to the vision of the city’s future.
“By 2032 I would like to see the southern Gold Coast connected to the rest of the city and Brisbane via heavy rail,” she said.
“I remain a strong advocate for heavy rail and know that local residents want this transport option.
“The Coalition has committed $8m for the Queensland government to conduct a corridor investigation into fast rail between Brisbane and the Gold Coast – including the extension of the line from Varsity Lakes to Gold Coast Airport. I’m keen to see the outcome of this study in the coming months.”
The study, announced before the 2019 election, is analysing the need for extending the existing rail line – or a new fast rail track – from Varsity Lakes to Gold Coast Airport.
The study will look at how many people would be projected to use the train line to travel north and south.
Funding for the study was fast-tracked in the 2020 federal budget as an economy-boosting project in the wake of the pandemic.
Any extension of the line can begin once the Cross River Rail is completed in 2024.
The Gold Coast itself will get three new stations, including the newly unveiled Merrimac railway station at Gooding Drive, all of which will begin construction in 2021.
State Transport Minister Mark Bailey said negotiations for Olympic Games infrastructure spending would begin next year. Those talks are expected to consider the case for extending the train line for the first time since December 2009.
Mr Bailey said changes to the rail network would be possible once the Cross River Rail was completed in 2024.
“Once we deal with Cross River Rail we can start looking at extensions and that will be when we look at the line to the airport and we are lucky the corridor is secure,” he said.
“We will need to look at the heavy rail after (2024) and there is ample time for it, though it will need state, federal and possibly local funding.
“Given the negotiations with the federal government on the Olympics, there is the possibility it could be done with that package though it hasn’t yet been discussed.”
The existing train connection between the two cities takes 74 minutes at an average speed of 69km/h, but the fast rail being envisaged would race along at 160km/h, more than halving the trip to 32 minutes.
At least three new stations are expected to be built between Varsity Lakes and the border.
Gold Coast City councillors have been assured the extension of heavy rail and light rail to the border has the green light.
Transport officers said a business case for heavy rail south of Varsity was still to be developed by the state transport department.
The study was separate to Cross River Rail and included both the airport and Coolangatta.
Councillor William Owen-Jones asked officers about light rail being extended, not just to the airport but Coolangatta.
He said it was critical “we don’t fall short those last three or four kilometres”.
“It’s the golden thread that links all of the city from Coolangatta all the way up to Helensvale and beyond,” he said.
An officer told him: “We have no sense of the department not considering that linkage.”
Where the Coast’s new train station will be
Works on the new Merrimac railway station will be begin early next year.
The state government has unveiled the first plans for the station, which will be built on a site just off Gooding Drive, via a new access road.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the station would open once the Cross River Rail was completed in 2024.
“By building a new station at Merrimac through Cross River Rail, we’ll make it quicker and easier to catch a train during peak times,” she said.
It’ll be one of three new Gold Coast stations built as part of Cross River Rail and will feature 275 car parks and a 40-bike enclosure.
Gaven MP Meaghan Scanlon said the three stations would help ensure transport infrastructure kept pace with the needs of the growing region.
Community consultation will run until December 4.
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