STUDY TICKS LIGHT RAIL

A REVIEW by Infrastructure Australia on the business case for light rail being extended south from Broadbeach to Burleigh solves one of the biggest debates about the trams.

For some residents and businesses based at Burleigh Heads, and even further south at Palm Beach through to Tugun, what has strengthened their argument to oppose building light rail Stage 3A and Stage 3B has been the public transport available on their doorstep. “We have a reliable and regular bus service along the Gold Coast Highway from the airport, so why spend so much money on the trams,” they say.

Building a tram in the middle of the highway will cause great disruption. It is inevitable that taller buildings will be approved along the corridor. Meanwhile, three levels of government argue about how to split the $709 million bill.

But the business case, which the nation’s independent infrastructure adviser to governments yesterday ticked off on, essentially takes on those arguments and shows why they are misguided.

Without the tram, it is impossible to manage the city’s population growth target under the South East Queensland Regional Plan.

There will be gridlock from Broadbeach north through to the Gold Coast University Hospital. Worse still, the buses are not coping now and upgrading the system is not a solution.

The report noted: “On average, approximately 83 per cent of route 700 services run on time and 85 per cent of route 777 services run on time – more than two minutes early or six minutes late. During the afternoon peak period this reduces to 67 per cent for route 700 and 54 per cent for route 777 as road congestion increases. In comparison, over 99 per cent of light rail services run on time.”

The corridor itself is expected to increase in population by 28,000 from now to 2041. The cost of congestion, estimated to be $38 million in 2018, would increase to $145 million by then.

Car travel times from Broadbeach to Burleigh will be about the same. The reason is the work being done immediately west to widen the Pacific Motorway.

But here’s Stage 3A’s big future selling point for all of us. It will prevent that gridlock which will occur from Broadbeach through to Southport and the hospital at Parklands.

Infrastructure Australia in its report – it has ticked off Stage 3A joining a funding priority list – noted options like a heavy rail extension to the airport and connection to Robina should be explored.

The business case focused on the bus rapid transit option only for the Broadbeach to Burleigh corridor only to find it would have a higher capital cost than trams and would perform the poorest.

Infrastructure Australia wants a full rail line business case. The clear indications from this report suggests trams rather than buses will be the superior connection to the airport. The final challenge is funding, and it is time governments followed the call of Destination Gold Coast CEO Annaliese Battista and reach a compromise, ending the chronic “under investment” in the Glitter Strip.