Passenger rail from Toowoomba

A BOLD $70 billion proposal to fast-track south east Queensland’s development into a world-class super-metropolis of the future has been unveiled.

A new report recommends a rapid rail network that would carry passengers to the centre of Brisbane from the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich and even Toowoomba in less than 45 minutes.

Vast improvements to public transport and carefully-targeted road projects would enable people to travel across individual cities within half an hour.

The blueprint is outlined in a report by major infrastructure consultants SMEC, who were commissioned by the SEQ Council of Mayors to investigate transport as part of a feasibility study into a possible Olympic Games bid.

It proposes a major shift in priority to public transport, reversing a trend towards private car use over the past 30 years.

The centrepiece is a new “faster rail” network of frequent trains travelling at up to 250km/h. Average speeds of 150km/h would be almost three times the current 60km/h.

It would halve the travel time from the Gold and Sunshine Coasts to the capital, and slash up to two-thirds off the journey from Ipswich.

Stage one of the “SEQ People Mass Movement Study” found that enormous population and employment growth would increase transport demand across the region 31 percent by 2031, and by 53 percent a decade later.

A “base” scenario, including existing projects such as Cross River Rail and Brisbane Metro, would allow major centres to become half-hour “smart cities”

But a recommended “advanced scenario” envisages the state’s south east corner becoming an interconnected “smart region” over the next quarter of a century, securing its position as the country’s most liveable and efficient metropolitan area.

The rapid rail network would involve existing lines and new ones. They would include the North Coast Connect proposal which has already received federal Government funding for a business case for a new 40km track from Beerwah to Maroochydore.

It proposes a new fast link to Southport from the current Gold Coast corridor. A fast initial connection to Ipswich would be extended to Toowoomba, although another recent $15 million business case grant to determine passenger rail requirements to the Darling Downs city could also see that brought forward.