Gold Coast Light rail stage 3: Broadbeach to Burleigh tram still delayed

Taxpayers are being stung because the state government cannot finalise a deal to build the next stage of the light rail between Broadbeach and Burleigh Heads.

TAXPAYERS are being stung an extra $1m a day because the state government cannot finalise a deal to build the next stage of the light rail to Burleigh.

Originally slated to open in 2022, the project blew out by $300m after last year’s state election and, despite Brisbane promising for four months that an agreement was “close”, it remains in limbo.

Aside from creating delays on when the 6.7km track will be completed, construction experts say the price of the project is at risk of increasing the longer it takes for the contract to be signed.

Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 3

Master Builders Gold Coast regional manager Adam Profke said material costs were rising rapidly.

“The outlook for material shortages is not great and, with the increased activity on development and projects, I expect these issues to continue into the next year.

“The entire supply chain that is being affected.”

Light rail Stage 3 was initially funded in late 2018 and expected to be finished by 2022. It will take three years to build, directly supporting 760 jobs, meaning it will not be operational now until mid-to-late 2025.

It has now been four years since the completion of light rail stage 2. Picture Mike Batterham

To highlight the “ridiculous situation”, the trams bought specifically for the line upgrade will begin arriving late next year. They will be stored in Southport.

A Palaszczuk government spokesman said a deal was in its “final stages”.

“Transport and Main Roads is in the final stages of the procurement process, which is commercial-in-confidence,” he said.

“Right now, the project team is focused on completing early works, which will allow us to ramp up major construction next year.”

Bonney MP Sam O’Connor slammed the government for the delays, saying it had now been four years since Stage 2 between Gold Coast University Hospital and Helensvale opened.

Bonney MP Sam O'Connor near the Gold Coast University Hospital tram station.

“That’s not good enough for our fast-growing city,” he said.

“It’s more than two years since the (initial) funding was first secured for Stage 3 but we still don’t have a contract signed.

“Because of Mark Bailey’s budget blowouts and delays, we’re now in the ridiculous situation of having our new trams arrive years before the track to Burleigh will be built.

“They’ll be shuffling trams around the Southport depot because they won’t have a line to run them on.”

In a recent written response to Mr O’Connor, Transport Mark Bailey said the light rail was “one of the greatest transport legacies on the Gold Coast, and I am proud to be part of a government which has supported this project every step of the way.”

There were big smiles when the tram extension was announced but the contract still remains unsigned. Picture: Jerad Williams

Stage 3 was originally budgeted to cost $709m. Weeks before last year’s poll, the state government said Melbourne-based construction giant John Holland Group had been selected as the contractor for the project.

However, the Bulletin revealed in April that a contract had not been signed and costings had spiked to more than $1bn.

A month later the federal government announced it would bail out the project and pay half of the $300m blowout. The state government matched the commitment.

Seven months later a contract is still not signed. John Holland Group has failed to answer multiple requests by the Bulletin for comment.

Mr Bailey said the budget blew out as a result of increased labour costs and a competitive Covid construction market. They were also blamed on delays in securing contracts for other big-ticket projects such as the Coomera Connector.

It means that if a contract was signed today for the last projected figure of $1bn, the state government would cough up $554m, $204m more than its original contribution announced in 2019. The Gold Coast City Council’s commitment of $91.5m would not change.

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Originally published as Gold Coast Light rail stage 3: Broadbeach to Burleigh tram still delayed