Miles rails against LNP’s ‘car park’ criticism of Sunshine Coast link

The state and federal Labor governments have defended their staged approach to delivering the Sunshine Coast rail line, amid LNP claims it would turn Caloundra into a “car park”.

In a pre-federal budget announcement on Sunday night, Infrastructure Minister Catherine King announced an additional $1.15 billion in Commonwealth funding for the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line, bringing Canberra’s commitment to $2.75 billion.

An artist’s impression of Caloundra station on the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line. Credit: Department of Transport and Main Roads

Premier Steven Miles said on Monday the “heavy construction” on the project would begin in 2026, with stage one to be completed in time for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.

Ultimately, the $12 billion project would stretch almost 39 kilometres from Beerwah to Maroochydore, but only the 19-kilometre stage one, as far as Caloundra, has been funded so far.

That led to claims from deputy state opposition leader Jarrod Bleijie that Caloundra would be “consigned to a car park”.

“Under Labor, the Sunshine Coast rail will not be delivered to Maroochydore before the 2032 Games, despite being a key promise to Queenslanders in the bid,” he said.

“Maroochydore and Kawana will miss out and Caloundra will be consigned to a car park.”

Miles said the business case showed building all the way to Maroochydore at once would mean no trains for at least 10 years.

A staged approach, Miles said, would mean commuters would have some “benefit in the meantime”.

“When it comes to public transport, when it comes to planning for our region, the LNP have all the slogans in the world, but they have no detailed plans, no funded projects, no costed projects,” he said.

“What we know is that the only way to get trains operating before Brisbane 2032 is to stage this project.

“The business case said that if you tried to build it all the way to Maroochydore, all at once, you would have no trains operating for at least 10 years, it would cost billions and billions of dollars more – dollars that are not funded by the Australian government.”

Public transport advocate Robert Dow, from Rail Back on Track, welcomed the funding but called for interim services to Maroochydore once stage one was complete.

“If the Queensland government cannot deliver a train service to Maroochydore soon, the question should naturally turn to what can it deliver in the interim while residents wait for trains to reach Maroochydore?” he said.

“We think the answer is a limited stop express bus service that acts in place of the railway, until the railway is fully built out.

“Running every 15 minutes all day, this service would be limited to only stopping at future DSCRL train station locations, guaranteeing both access and high-speed travel during the planning and construction phases of the project.”

A Transport and Main Roads spokesman said a detailed business case was under way for an “integrated urban public transport solution” along the coastal corridor between Caloundra and Maroochydore.

“More detailed timetables will be developed as the [rail] project approaches opening as these will be co-ordinated to ensure that the service integrates well with existing passenger, freight and regional rail services on the North Coast Line, and new local connecting bus services,” he said.

Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli said the rail link was one of the most critical infrastructure investments needed in her region.

“An effective, reliable and sustainable public transport network is critical to the liveability of the Sunshine Coast and supporting the productivity of our economy,” she said.

“We need this to help people move around, get to work and access services and relieve unmanageable traffic congestion.”