Tram boss: We’re getting off-track
Goldlinq boss Phil Mumford says the city needs to look at the big picture in its ability to cater for unprecedented growth – and come up with solutions, not problems
IT is the runaway train that Phil Mumford cannot control.
It’s not the light rail itself, which the Goldlinq chief executive has been steering to success for more than a decade now, but rather the conversation around this controversial city project.
As residents with a onetrack mind argue for the project to be abandoned, as political support is suddenly derailed, as the city continues to grapple with gridlock, Phil can’t help but wonder why we continue to get off-track.
“We’re missing the point,” he says.
“It’s not about which street the light rail runs down, it’s not a matter of electric buses versus light rail, or light rail versus heavy rail … we need to turn this discussion around.
“We need to look at the big picture. We are Australia’s fastest-growing city and we’ll be knocking on the door of one million residents within the next 20 years, with more than 300,000 extra residents.
“Each of those residents will be making three trips every day. So how are we going to keep this city moving? How will we keep people connected locally, nationally and internationally?
“It’s time to stop picking out problems and look at the solutions. This is not an either/or situation, we need to throw everything we have at an integrated transportation strategy. Light rail is not
the sole solution, but it has to be part of it. It’s one piece of the jigsaw.
“We need heavy rail, light rail, buses, ride-shares, taxis, escooters, bicycles … we need every option we can to move forward into the future.”
As a self-confessed e-scooter enthusiast and regular light rail patron, the Goldlinq boss walks the talk.
The company is sponsoring the third annual Transporting Cities into the Future Forum at the Star Gold Coast this Friday, which will feature a panel of experts in the transport and planning sector on what the priorities, challenges and opportunities are for our city.
And it couldn’t come at a better time … because it’s been a tough week for Phil.
The future of the $2.7bn Burleigh-to-airport tram extension is hanging in the balance after Karen Andrews, the Liberal member for Mcpherson, told her own government to reject funding the proposal for the line to run along the Gold Coast Highway through Palm Beach.
However, Ms Andrews has repeatedly refused to say which route she backs.
Her shock call to ward off federal funding of the coastal route has outraged the state government and council.
For Phil, it’s yet another case of the transport conversation being derailed.
“This week undid a lot of work. It’s a big disappointment,” he admits.
“But that’s being a politician … when the election is over hopefully we can turn this conversation around.
“The mayor has strong aspirations to see this project succeed. Both sides of the state government agree, and hopefully the feds will come back.
“It’s just so tiring to be talking about which route and whether this project should really go ahead when we should be talking about how can we best accommodate the population we are going to have.
“We have to base these discussions in reality.”
The reality is this city needs light rail as part of a total transportation network.
Phil says statistics show that one in three residents of the Gold
Coast do not have a driver’s
licence and there have been more than 60 million trips taken on the G:link since it opened in 2014, now averaging 10 million trips per year, or 30,000 trips per day.
However, Phil is not interested in an argument, even if a very vocal contingent of residents in our southern suburbs would love to engage in just that.
There have also been reports of discontent from Burleigh business owners citing concern over communications from Goldlinq’s light rail contractor John Holland Group, which will construct the Stage 3 extension from Broadbeach to Burleigh.
But Phil says a communications blitz is about to begin with an announcement of the official start of Stage 3 construction imminent, and lessons have been well and truly learned from the construction of Stage 1 of the light rail between the Gold Coast University Hospital and Broadbeach.
“We’re doing things very differently,” he says.
“We’ve done a whole load of geotechnical investigations below ground. All along the route we’ve been digging trenches and potholes and proofing up what is below the ground so that when we go to construction there are no surprises.
“It’s what should have been done in Stage 1.
“We are finalising the sequencing exercise, which will then put us in a position to say here’s what’s happening and give businesses a lot more certainty.
“We’re also working on tools for communicating information to the community and to businesses so that everyone knows what is happening and they know what avenues of support are available.
“There will be information on how to manage the impacts of construction, how traffic will be changed and how we will help businesses. It’s all very close to being finalised.
“The community relations team has been out there but there is more to come. We will be announcing where major works will start and how long the duration will be in the next month.
“Everyone is determined to make Stage 3 as painless as possible, and by 2025 we’ll be testing the system.”
Phil says the future of transportation on the Gold Coast does not depend on building
everything immediately, but in ensuring that the building blocks are strategically placed.
He says every option must be built where it can do the heaviest lifting, and one cannot necessarily substitute for the other.
“We have to look at the whole picture and what each mode is most suitable for. Light rail stations are placed every 300m to 400m, heavy rail stations are 10km apart, buses are fluid but take up traffic space. You have to analyse all angles.
“If we get them all working together, we’re on the way to a real solution and true sustainability.
“It should not be a case of light rail or heavy rail or buses to the airport, we need them all. They all serve different purposes – and the popularity of one increases the usage of another.
“Look at Stage 1 of the light rail. The bus routes were reconfigured to work in with the stations and it led to a 40 per cent increase in bus passengers.
“When we built Stage 2 to Helensvale, heavy rail patronage to Brisbane increased by 50 per cent.
“When the Cross River Rail is completed in Brisbane, that will help us as well. That will mean we can add more trains and hopefully that will be an end to the Mumbai Express. It’s
It’s time to stop picking out problems and look at the solutions
all about building a network.
“When you get it right, you really see results.”
And when you get it wrong, you see the repercussions.
Looking at you, Noosa and Sydney.
The NSW government this week committed to building Australia’s longest road tunnel in the Blue Mountains.
The mammoth 11km stretch, built up to 100m underground, will be constructed from Blackheath to Little Hartley as part of upgrades to the Great Western Highway in order to better connect the area to Sydney.
It’s proof of what can happen when urban sprawl grows out of control, something that public transportation can tackle with higher density.
Alternatively, enforcing population caps a la Noosa leads to soaring property prices and lack of connection.
“I have a job to get this right,” says Phil.
“How are we going to deal with a rising population? If we don’t increase density, which can be accomplished sustainably with adequate public transportation, we’re looking at a situation like Sydney.
“They are building a tunnel under the Blue Mountains to house people way out there. I hate to think how many billions of dollars that will cost.
“I hear that and I think: really? How wrong is that to put people on the other side of a mountain and have them drive in?
“We don’t want that, where we’re housing people on the other side of Canungra and they’re all driving everyday.
“But if we lock the gates it only creates a whole new set of problems. We don’t want to do a Noosa either.
“They said no more development and put in a population cap. That’s great … except you have to be incredibly rich to buy in there. And what is it connected to? You can only drive or get a bus. You have to go to Brisbane to get on a plane.
“It’s a city of the rich and the old, no one else can get in. I don’t think that’s what the Gold Coast wants for our children.”
While he’ll continue advocating for a greater and deeper conversation about not just light rail but public transportation on the Gold Coast, Phil is at least well versed in the adversarial nature of change.
As the former CEO of Queensland Motorways, he oversaw the completion of the $2.12bn Gateway Upgrade Project – the duplication of the iconic bridge once dubbed a “white elephant”.
“When the Gateway was first built, people thought it was ridiculous, that it would never be used, that it was the biggest white elephant in Brisbane’s history.
“But what would Brisbane be without that infrastructure? It’s so essential that now we have two. Change is difficult, but not changing is even worse.”
And that’s the conversation the Gold Coast needs to have if we want to get on the right track.