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It’s incredibly disappointing that the local council has decided not to do light rail, which would have been such a perfect companion to this, connecting up the slightly more inland heavy rail stations with the local communities and the beaches. But this being done is in itself great news.
I’ll also add that I hope that even though it’s not planned to support high speed rail right now, it’s designed in such a way as to be as easy as possible to be upgradable to that in the future. Because Sunshine Coast to Brisbane to Gold Coast is a fantastic place where high speed rail would provide such an incredible benefit, on the way to a full Sunshine Coast to Melbourne HSR system in the more distant future.
High Speed Rail connecting Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine coast would be superior to cars making it actually a preferable option. It would be a much better investment than say, expanding the Bruce Highway
It would be a much better investment than say, expanding the Bruce Highway
I hear you, and we’re going to act on that. Here’s a second Bruce Highway. You’re welcome!
— Queensland government
Well yesterday I was just reading about the Coomera Connector when researching my candidates for the Gold Coast City Council. They claim it will be a second Pacific Motorway. I think we’ve already got one and its stupid. Maybe we should build a second Gold Coast Line, and a third, and a fourth.
Just in case you weren’t aware, I was referring to a specific plan that is currently in the early stages. Absolutely fucking bonkers. How about spending all that money on duplicating the rail line North of Beerburrum, and increasing the frequency with which it operates? (Or better yet, upgrading it to high speed rail!)
researching my candidates for the Gold Coast City Council
They run as independents down there, don’t they? How easy is it to find which party they’re affiliated with, out of interest?
Okay, didn’t realise you were referring to an actual project. There is so little public transport outside of Brisbane and Logan, it just sucks.
It’s really disingenuous how they run as independents. I can’t find were on Mark Hammel’s (Division 1) website it says he is a member of the LNP but his website is all yellow and blue, so I’ve got a pretty good idea where is allegiance is…
didn’t realise you were referring to an actual project
Haha yup. Fun times.
his website is all yellow and blue
Amusingly, that’s the BCC colours, so we’re he in Brisbane that might not necessarily have indicated a party allegiance. But yeah, I do find it weird that Councillors outside of Brisbane hide their party allegiance. I’m not sure why but it seems so ubiquitous. Is it a rule or something?
Nearly 3 billion to create just under 20km of track.
This is how corruption happens in Australia.
I have no idea what a train track is worth and it seems way too high. I asked a search engine/LLM and it spat this out for the “average cost per kilometre”:
The average cost per kilometer of newly constructed railway track in Australian dollars can vary based on factors such as design speed, materials used, and specific project requirements. Here are some indicative costs based on the provided information:
- For high-speed rail construction in Australia, the cost per kilometer can range from approximately $700,000 for single track to $1 million for dual track[1].
- The cost of replacement track was estimated to be around $573,221 per kilometer in a 2007 study by the Australian Rail Track Corporation[2].
- The Adelaide to Darwin Railway extension completed in 2003 cost approximately $1.056 million per kilometer[2].
- The Melbourne-Brisbane Inland Rail Corridor had estimated costs of around $660,000 per kilometer for greenfield single track[2].
These figures provide a range of costs for different types of railway construction projects in Australia. It is important to note that actual costs can vary depending on specific project requirements, location, materials used, and other factors.
Citations: [1] https://hotrails.net/2014/08/track-costs/ [2] https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Booz Allen Hamilton DORC valuation report.pdf [3] https://www.erawa.com.au/cproot/5777/2/Corrigenda Version - Floor and Ceiling Review Final Determination.pdf [4] https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/GHD Advisory - Draft Public Report - ARTC Interstate Network DORC valuation.pdf [5] https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=9c5fc107-1131-4be0-93dd-b982ad15f43c&subId=414757
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A long-awaited rail line connecting the Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay and Brisbane is a step closer to construction as the Queensland government commits almost $3 billion towards the first stage of the project.
Deputy Premier Cameron Dick on Sunday announced $2.75 billion towards building a 19km dual track from Beerwah to Caloundra, the first stage of the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail project.
The state government said the first stage could be completed by the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and was estimated to make the commute from Caloundra to Brisbane 45 minutes faster than driving during peak hours — which Mr Dick said “will bust congestion” on local roads.
But the state’s Opposition deputy leader Jarrod Bleijie said Sunday’s announcement was a “cut” to the Sunshine Coast rail project, and the LNP would not support it unless Beerwah connected to Maroochydore by 2032.
Mr Bleijie criticised the state government for not delivering the entire rail line to Maroochydore in time for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Mr Addison said given a rail line to Maroochydore was announced by former premier Peter Beattie in 2005, the project was now costing substantially more than the initial estimate “because of government inaction”.
The original article contains 635 words, the summary contains 198 words. Saved 69%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
