Tram on track for delivery
THE Gold Coast’s first new tram in nearly six years has arrived after a nearly 26,000km journey around the world.
The first of five new trams purpose-built for the $1.2bn stage 3 extension was craned off a ship at the Port of Brisbane on Friday afternoon.
The blue and gold fourcarrige vehicle will be trucked down to the Gold Coast over the weekend via the Gateway Motorway, M1 and Smith Street.
Goldlinq Chairman John Witheriff said four further trams would arrive mid-year.
“These five trams will be used across the existing network from later this year, which allows plenty of testing and training time before Stage 3 opens in 2025,” he said.
“The trams for all three stages have all been produced by the same manufacturer, ensuring easy integration with the existing light rail system.”
Some light rail services are expected to be disrupted briefly while the tram is offloaded onto the tracks.
Its arrival comes just a few months short of a decade since the city’s first trams arrived in 2013.
Their new stock, which was first ordered in June 2020, will expand the fleet to 23 vehicles.
They will all begin operating on the existing Helensvale to Broadbeach line ahead of the 6.7km Burleigh extension opening in late 2025.
However, the new vehicles will have several distinct differences from the previous generation of trams which ar
rived in 2013 and 2017, respectively.
They will feature two additional spaces for wheelchairs while yellow priority seating will now be red.
The latter change will be rolled out across the older trams.
Mr Witheriff said the existing light rail depot at South
port was undergoing a significant upgrade while Stage 3 was being constructed.
“Significant works to expand the depot are progressing well,” he said.
“When these works are complete, the five extra trams will be housed at the site in a new stabling area,” he said.
Construction of Stage 3,
between Broadbeach and Burleigh Heads, began late last year and will run until 2024.
This week, former Wallabies stars Saia and Anthony Fainga’a were awarded a historic contract to provide traffic management through their company Moonyah Workforce.
It is one of the largest contracts ever given to an Indigenous-owned and operated business.
Planning continues on Stage 4, which will run from Burleigh to the border via Gold Coast Airport which political leaders hope to have completed before the 2032 Olympic Games.