G:LINK TRAVELLERS EAGER FOR LINE TO HEAD SOUTH
THE sooner the light rail goes further south the better.
Residents and tourists said they can’t wait until they can jump on the tram to Burleigh and eventually the airport.
Mermaid Beach resident Jesse O’Keefe catches a bus to Broadbeach South station before the tram to Griffith University.
Mr O’Keefe said the bus was a pain and could be very inconsistent.
“There’s too much going back and forth and waiting for trams, waiting for buses and they never interlink,” he said.
“The bus got here (Broadbeach South) exactly when the tram was leaving. It could wait 20 seconds to be co-ordinated but there’s no cohesion between the two.
“If you just had one service running up and down that would be perfect. It would save a heap of time.”
Mr O’Keefe said he would be encouraged to visit more of the Gold Coast.
“I don’t drive so if the tram went all the way down there I’d probably go to Burleigh a bit more,” he said.
“I’d go down around Coolangatta and visit the southern beaches if I didn’t have to take buses.”
Former Gold Coast resident Damir Merdovic was visiting the city with his family for the first time since the existing light rail system was built.
“When we lived here compared to now it’s so much more convenient having it,” he said.
“You had to catch a lot of different buses and it became complicated so you just drove wherever you wanted to go.”
Mr Merdovic said he’d like to see the line continue to the airport after catching the bus with his wife, two children,
their luggage and a pram was a hassle.
“Getting on the tram is very easy with everything,” he said.
Mr Merdovic said the State and Federal Governments should step up to make the next stage happen.
“It will benefit everyone,” he said.
Broadbeach resident Alison Retallack often caught the bus from Broadbeach South to Burleigh with her friends and said the tram would be a “relief” and she would go more often.
“It’d be so much easier to get down there,” she said.