The Queensland government has broken a key election promise by scrapping the final stage of the Sunshine Coast direct rail line.
Before being elected in October the LNP repeatedly promised to have trains running along a new corridor from Beerwah to Maroochydore by 2032.
But after the project was scrutinised as part of a 100-day Olympics infrastructure review the premier revealed on Tuesday the heavy rail line would stop at Birtinya, about 13 kilometres short of Maroochydore.
A connecting metro bus service will instead take commuters to Maroochydore and then on to the Sunshine Coast Airport.
The project has been dubbed “The Wave”, with passengers able to travel by public transport from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast, albeit not by train the entire way.
Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli said she was excited despite the government’s backflip.
“For the first time, we will have a new, modern public transport system that connects the airport as well as more services connecting east and west,” she said.
“We’ve needed it for decades.
“The whole reason that council was involved in the Games bid was for that legacy, for that infrastructure, to deliver the public transport and venue infrastructure for the people of the Sunshine Coast long into the future.”
Opposition leader Steven Miles accused Premier David Crisafulli of lying.
“Instead of getting trains to Maroochydore they’ll run buses to Maroochydore,” he said.
“They’ve [now] admitted what everyone always knew — that wasn’t going to be possible.”
The Sunshine Coast heavy rail line has full state and federal funding to Caloundra, but not into the most populated parts of the coast.
A spokeswoman for federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said any requests for more funding would be considered “based on a robust business case and costings” provided by the Queensland government.
Mr Crisafulli denied the decision was a broken promise, instead framing it as an extra commitment by including the airport.
“We promised people they’ll be able to get on public transport at Maroochydore and head into Brisbane,” he said.
“[Now] they’re going to be able to do that from the airport.
“It became clear that the missed opportunity, by not allowing someone to be able to fly into the Sunny Coast and get on public transport, [that] was too great a missed opportunity to let go.”
Sunshine Coast Airport general manager Kylie Ezzy said the plan was exciting and would provide a “vital link” between the airport and Maroochydore.
Expert backs buses
Griffith University adjunct professor Matthew Burke said he was “delighted” by the trackless trams or buses now slated for the Birtinya-Maroochydore-Sunshine Coast Airport corridor.
He said a mass transit solution was sorely needed for the booming region which suffered from a lack of public transport options.
“The Sunshine Coast is now an absolute oddity … it’s exceptionally car-based,” Dr Burke said.
He argued trackless trams were cheaper, quicker to roll out, and offered a more flexible solution to moving large crowds of people through built-up areas.
ABC News
Why have a stupid tram ride to the main location on the sunshine coast this is like a repeat of the fiasco of the Gold Coast and not connecting to the airport.
The sunshine coat line should go through to the airport where many could use it to and from that facility.
Stupid short sighted decisions like this as holding transport back.