Gold Coast Light Rail

[ozbob]

Gold Coast Bulletin --> Jostling for burial plots on the rise as rail pushes Coast cemeteries to fill fast

[HappyTrainGuy]

Gold Coast Bulletin --> Jostling for burial plots on the rise as rail pushes Coast cemeteries to fill fast

Just what I look for when taking a tram ride, somewhere to rot!

Won't see anything if there are wraps on the sides

[dancingmongoose]

Off for my first ride on the trams tonight, should be good

[ozbob]

Off for my first ride on the trams tonight, should be good

Enjoy!  Hope you get an 'unwrapped tram' that way you will see where you are going ... 

[dancingmongoose]

Off for my first ride on the trams tonight, should be good

Enjoy!  Hope you get an 'unwrapped tram' that way you will see where you are going ... 

Unfortunately we got a Dan Murphys wrapped tram on the way down, but we got an unwrapped on the way back. Overall I'm very impressed, the tram was packed down to Cavill Ave, and it was so smooth I didn't need to hold on at all. It really suits the area too.
At Cavill Ave waiting for the tram back to the car:

[ozbob]

Radio reports of some brakes on a tram may have caught fire ...

[ozbob]

Radio reports of some brakes on a tram may have caught fire ...

Twitter

Kendall Gilding ‏@Kendall_Gilding

Fire fighters say thermal imaging camera isn't detecting any heat. Still unknown what caused fire @7NewsBrisbane

[ozbob]

http://translink.com.au/travel-information/service-notices/25081/details

Trams suspended: Cavill Avenue-Surfers Paradise North

Last updated: 1.38pm Thursday 9 October 2014

G:link services are suspended in both directions between Southport and Surfers Paradise North stations due to a mechanical incident. Customers can expect delays of up to 30 mintues.

Bus transport is being arranged to transport customers. Please visit www.ridetheG.com.au for more information about these services.

Emergency services are on site.

[ozbob]

Gold Coast Bulletin --> Tram stopped and evacuated at Main Beach after mechanic fault

[ozbob]

Just checked G: app, trams are still running except for the closed section at present ...

Fire fighters can find no evidence of fire with thermal imaging gear.  I wonder if a bit of paper or something got caught up, burned and now nothing??  <scary music> ....

[ozbob]

4BC --> Gold Coast tram trouble

[ozbob]

Twitter

GoldLinQ ‏@gclightrail

No evidence to date of flames/fire on the tram, only smoke. Passengers evacuated for precaution only. Normal service likely later this arv.

[ozbob]

Twitter

TransLink SEQ ‏@TransLinkSEQ

Trams have resumed in both directions following an earlier mechanical incident. Residual delays of up to 15 mins

[ozbob]

http://translink.com.au/travel-information/service-notices/25131/details

G:link suspended Nerang Street - Gold Coast University Hospital

Last updated: 9.32am Friday 10 October 2014

G:link services are suspended northbound Nerang Street  and Gold Coast University Hospital stations due to signalling fault at High Street, Southport. Customers can expect delays of up to 30 minutes.

Technicians are en route.

==================

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily 17th October 2014 page 9

Gold Coast plan based on density



" Light rail is driving an incredible cultural shift in our city ... " Mayor Tate

Decent public transport will do that ... 

[dancingmongoose]

Here's a (slightly foamy) question. Theres all this talk of extending the light rail to heavy rail, why not the other way around? HR spur from Helensvale to Southport. Considering that Helensvale is planned to be a terminus anyway, it would mean those train would terminate at Southport and wouldn't be blocking Varsity Lakes trains. The line could run alongside the southside of Smith St motorway and the station near Parklands Drive to connect with the light rail at GU. Just a thought

[#Metro]

Heavy rail has more demanding engineering requirements, and therefore costs significantly more than light rail. It must run in class A ROW (some cases it is class B at level crossings  ). LRT can run in class B row, much cheaper. Also does not split frequencies. Branching splits frequency and degrades service quality.

[Gazza]

Also, several bus routes terminate at Helensvale, so bringing the LRT there means you can have a logical interchange point.

[colinw]

Absolutely not.  Helensvale via Harbour Town, supplemented by buses and a relatively fast Nerang to Broadbeach bus route is the only way to go (in my opinion).

Keep the heavy rail as a single high capacity spine with no dilution of services via branching.  The local network role in the Gold Coast should be LRT for the high capacity core route(s), BUZ standard routes for the inter-town stuff (Nerang), with half hourly standard infill/coverage routes.

i.e. the Gold Coast is on the right path already, and if it doesn't get nobbled by politics is on a trajectory to a better network than Brisbane.

[SurfRail]

I'm going to be perfectly happy with light rail to Helensvale via Parkwood rather than Harbour Town.  In many respects it is probably better - in particular, it is FASTER, and by quite a bit. 

The difficulty is that there are considerable permanent dead zones along both routes, but significantly more so for Harbour Town.

Harbour Town does deserve its own light rail link at some point but I would be pushing that further north.

Harbour Town to Southport via Harbour Town can continue to be the 704 bus, with improved headways and span of hours.  This with a Helensvale via Parkwood and a Harbour Town and points north via Olsen Ave line gives you a very nice simple grid.

[ozbob]

Twitter

GoldLinQ ‏@gclightrail

Extra G:link tram services for #GC600 begin today http://ow.ly/D0zwj  Plan your trip now http://ow.ly/D0zwk  (hint: use GC600 for end)

[ozbob]

Twitter

Peter Doherty ‏@PeterDoherty7

Very patient crowd waiting for the G after #GoldCoast600 #V8SC

[#Metro]

It is working REALLY well and very useful. To think there was so much opposition to it and now it is unthinkable to be without!

[SurfRail]

I think they deserve some congratulations for handling their first major event with considerable aplomb.  I'll knock up a release...

[techblitz]

i think the consensus is in...light rail works best.....needs to be looked at in brisbane for sure

[#Metro]

Darra-Centenary Suburbs via Coronation Drive could work. Fitting it on Coro might be a pain though. Also would have to reduce the lanes to one each way for cars.

CBD-UQ via Coronation Drive could also work.

Carindale to UQ Lakes via Old Cleveland Rd could work. Might be cheaper than Class A busway, but would be slower.

All moot given the $$ situation and expense.

[ozbob]

Media release 27th October 2014

Gold Coast:  GoldlinQ takes centre stage at GC600

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web-based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers wishes to congratulate TransLink and GoldlinQ on providing high quality and frequent public transport to racegoers at the 2014 Gold Coast 600.

Steven Jamieson, Gold Coast Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"In previous years, the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit has made transport arrangements for racegoers very difficult.  Even with bus lanes provided in certain locations, on-road congestion, reductions in road capacity and lack of an off-road alternative have created challenges in moving people around - not only to and from the events precincts, but also within them."

"All that has changed this year with the commencement of the Gold Coast's light rail system."

"Services operated to higher than normal frequencies on Saturday and Sunday to transport large volumes of patrons to the GC600 races and other nearby events, with very high patronage at stops near the main gates at Surfers Paradise North and Main Beach.  With a dedicated corridor, including off-road sections through the Paradise Waters area, disruptions to services caused by the event were negligible."

"While travelling on Saturday, even with the significantly increased loadings I noticed high levels of reliability.  There was a strong and very helpful staff presence at major stops, and thousands of people were carried around safely and quickly.  Something this effective would have been unthinkable as late as last year with a system limited only to on-road public transport with half the road missing in places."

"We look forward to seeing The G: continue to serve the city admirably as the Gold Coast moves into its peak 2014/2015 events season."

"Well done!"

Contacts:

Steven Jamieson
Gold Coast Region Spokesperson for RAIL Back On Track

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow

Media: 'GoldlinQ takes centre stage at GC600' http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11028.msg148062#msg148062 ... #qldpol #auspol // @gclightrail @TransLinkSEQ well done, thanks! #LRT

[ozbob]

Twitter

Michael Hart MP ‏@MichaelHartMP 16 hours ago

Catching the G link and a bus home from the GC600. Crowded but it's working well. Well done Translink. #qldpol



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^

Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow now

. @MichaelHartMP Great! You might interested in this > http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=10971.0 ... & this > http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11028.0 ... Cheers! #qldpol

[ozbob]

Gold Coast Bulletin --> Almost 100,000 light rail trips taken over Gold Coast 600 weekend as fans take to track

... The GC600 crowd was up by more than 10,000 on last year, with 184,732 through the gates over three days.

Organisers attributed much of the increase to the light rail, which offered free travel throughout the event and ran at capacity for much of the weekend.

V8 Supercars chief executive James Warburton had hoped for 180,000 people — and said the light rail gave the city another dimension when it came to hosting major events.

"The Gold Coast is just an international event city — the scale of this, the way the city looks, the light rail — it shows the way the city can turn on amazing events," he said.

Even as the chairs and fencing were packed away and the traffic disruptions continued through Surfers Paradise yesterday, the trams remained a viable alternative to braving the single-lane crawl ...

[red dragin]

I hope V8 Supercars didn't come up with the 100,000 number, they are known for
"What was the actual attendance? Right, add 40%, then print the media release" 


Good to see the detractors have found something better to do though 

Got our first ride planned whilst we are down there, during Schoolies week  Should be quiet during the mornings though 

[ozbob]

Queensland Parliament E-petitions

Gold Coast light rail future stages

--> http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-assembly/petitions/e-petition?PetNum=2290

[Otto]

Signed.
Thanks for the link ozbob

[ozbob]

Griffith University News --> Tracking the benefits of light rail

In the first project of its kind in Australia for an operating light rail system, the City of Gold Coast has teamed up with Griffith University to set up an ongoing study to monitor the light rail corridor, and measure the impacts of the trams.

The result of 10 years of planning and construction, light rail is expected to not only improve the public transport network, but have positive spin-offs for our economy, community and environment.

Mayor Tom Tate said the project will help the whole city tap into the potential of light rail.

"We want to make sure that all the planning, the investment and effort that has gone into light rail really pay off for our city so we need to keep a close eye on the impacts the trams are having," he said.

"Our planners can then learn from that and maximise the benefits as planning for the next stages of light rail moves forward. It's another first for the Gold Coast, and I'm sure the project will also be of interest to other cities planning to introduce trams themselves. They'll all be watching how we make it work."

Griffith University's Dr Matthew Burke said the pioneering project is one of very few ever undertaken internationally, and the first in Australia to look explicitly at light rail investment.

"The collaboration has been a real win-win for both Griffith and the City, and I'm sure what we learn will deliver benefits later along the track (literally) when we plan and design the next stages of the light rail network," he said.

The project will look at all aspects of life along the 13 kilometre light rail route from Southport to Broadbeach, including economic and business activity, community, lifestyle, transport and environmental changes.

Pedestrian counting will take place at 17 key locations along the light rail route at regular intervals, to build up a picture of how things are changing along the corridor.

As the light rail network grows, there is opportunity to widen the scope of the project to cover an expanded light rail corridor.

For further information visit http://bit.ly/1AP9LCC

[ozbob]

Gold Coast Bulletin --> Public transport usage spikes on Gold Coast after introduction of light rail network

PUBLIC transport usage on the Gold Coast jumped by 500,000 people in three months on the back of the introduction of the light rail network, according to figures exclusively released to the Bulletin.

The numbers supplied by Queensland Transport Minister Scott Emerson's office show that from July 1 to September 30 this year 4.8 million people hopped on a bus or a tram on the Gold Coast — a 13 per cent increase in public transport usage on the same period last year.

About 1.2 million of that total rode the light rail.

A crucial State Government meeting about stage 2 of the transport network will be held this week. The matter will be discussed by a sub committee of Cabinet.

Gold Coast business groups and politicians have been pushing a petition, sponsored by Southport MP Rob Molhoek, calling for the State Government to work collaboratively with local and national governments to ensure a connection with heavy rail at Parkwood or Helensvale is delivered in time for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Yesterday the number of signatures jumped to 8241, an extra 4000-plus since the latest campaign for citywide support started.

Light rail business advisory group member Stephen Harrison has set a target of 10,000 signatures by Friday, in the hope of sending a strong message to the Government.

Mr Harrison and other city leaders are concerned a commitment needs to be made before the end of the year for the light rail extension to be built in time for the 2018 Games.

The petition will close on November 24.

To sign the petition, log on to www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-assembly/petitions/e-petition? PetNum=2290.

[ozbob]

^

It is wonderful to see the Gold Coast community now rallying behind the light rail.

We were the pariahs there for a while ...  Right is might!   

[red dragin]

Any word on how the struggling businesses are now going?

[ozbob]

Any word on how the struggling businesses are now going?

Booming ...

[red dragin]

Great - will check some of them out in a few weeks when we are down there for a ride 

[Arnz]

^ from my observations today around 11am, I would say varying between 33% full starting from GCUH to around 66% by the time I've reached Surfers.  The return with a break of Journey at Southport was above 50%, and about the same amount from Southport back to GCUH. 

I'm not sure if that's the everyday patronage, but this is just from my observations today being a first time user of the G today.