Gold Coast Light Rail

[SurfRail]

Some of the numbers will undoubtedly be transfers because TransLink's system is apparently not competent enough to distinguish between transfers and originating journeys, but it won't exactly be 1 for 1.

[SurfRail]

New designs reduce costs and timing for Gold Coast tram-train connection

Based on this it looks like it will be:

- Extension to Helensvale via Smith St, Parkwood and the rail corridor

- Common concourse with the existing station with the existing gated entrance on the town centre side and a new gater entrance on the eastern side.  (Elsewhere I have seen mentions of developing the land to the east plus putting in more commuter parking.)  Maybe punch through the wall where the existing station lift shaft is and, if they have any sense, put the trams on the concourse level with parking underneath.

- Duplication of the Coomera to Helensvale section of the railway.

- Construction of a centre turnback south of the existing island platform to allow Helensvale to be used as a terminus consistent with the long-term plans for the Beenleigh and GC lines under BaT (as opposed to providing a new southbound platform and using the existing southbound platform as a turnback).  Basically as per the existing arrangement at Beenleigh, but hopefully modelled more on the better layout at Cockburn Central.

[Gazza]

So at Helensvale, are you saying have the LRT at the same level as the Buses/Concourse, with a Broadbeach South/Ferny Grove style arrangement where people can walk around the end of the tram?

What stops would such an extension have?
They are going to be marginal stops no matter what you do given the marked difference in density compared to the existing system, but my thoughts would be:

-South End of Country Club Drive, where there is currently a pre built unused road/ped bridge you can make use of (with new road link to Millaroo Drive). Rezone vacant land in the vicinity as business park to complement existing. Could even do a urban village ala varsity lakes if people want to live there, and have tram and golf nearby.
This is 900m from Helensvale.
http://goo.gl/maps/FsMf6

-Napper Rd & Smith St
Provides interchange with 714/715 , Would also service a mega park and ride using vacant land between the Railway and Smith St.
2km from previous stop.
http://goo.gl/maps/vOBXG

-Parkwood West, near Drysdale Lane. Makes use of linear park with shared pathway and break in houses.
When the area South of the Smith St Motorway in Molendinar develops more, provide a ped/cycle bridge over the Smith St Motorway.
1.3km from previous stop.
http://goo.gl/maps/AQjle

-Parkwood South, near Faldo Ct. Again, another break in the houses and ped link this could connect with. Most residents on Henry Cotton Dr and the Southern Parts of Parkwood Drive would be able to walk to this stop.
1.1km from previous stop.

From there it is 1.8km to GCUH.

[SurfRail]

So at Helensvale, are you saying have the LRT at the same level as the Buses/Concourse, with a Broadbeach South/Ferny Grove style arrangement where people can walk around the end of the tram?

Basically.  I would have 2 proper side platforms and a proper scissor crossover at the southern end as this is a natural end of the line and doesn't need to be built to accommodate extensions.

I've looked at it before but now I've sat down and had a real think, what I think needs to happen is set out in the attached KMZ.

[Gazza]

Hah, funnily enough I considered having  Hazeltine Place but thought it might be a bit foamy
That said, there is an extra possible station site I spotted just now.

There is an easement here:
http://goo.gl/maps/6PyUj
Streetview:
http://goo.gl/maps/yDmHa

You'll notice that you can get some quite good pedestrian permeability into the suburb through the ped walkways that step up the hill:
http://goo.gl/maps/rFwui

Parkwood Station I think would be better if it were to the north of Smith St, up on the heavy rail embankment (immediately west of of that billabong you can see), the track would travel on an elevated structure over Napper Rd only, and then immediately descend to ground level. It should never cross smith street.
If it were here, it makes it that little bit more accessible to Seachange Estate. The park and ride would be accessed via a pedestrian Bridge over smith street.


Not much else to add other than Helensvale South should be part of the main project as it "does no harm" and serves that employment area, so may encourage proactive development and location of businesses.

And the Preserved 'Arundel' station should be paid for by developers if they put in a subdivision there.

[SurfRail]

The main reason I had the stop south of Smith St was that it co-locates it with the parking and so should make it a bit more attractive.  This spot has been my main assumption up to yesterda, but I will admit when plotting it that your suggested spot looked better.  Ultimately what gets built is probably what is cheapest to do here.

The main reason for Hazeltine Place is that while the route distance to GCUH is very short (probably below system average for stop spacing), the walking/cycling/driving/bus distance to GCUH is about double, (ie above system average) because you have to keep going north before ending up on Parklands Drive.

The issue I have with building Helensvale South at first would be that it slows the tram down unnecessarily.  Patronage would be nil or near-nil, so unless there is a decent catchment the stop just makes the trip fractionally less attractive.

Obviously part of this the plan should be to build a decent pedestrian and bike path for the whole length.  There already is a path along quite a bit of it south of Napper Rd, but it wouldn't be stellar quality.  You would want to put in at least one footbridge to Ernest near the westbound off-ramps.  There is also a long-term project to extend Ashmore Rd as a proper 2-lane road all the way to Smith St which would need to be factored in - http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/council/ashmore-road-to-smith-street-connection-project-2159.html

[ozbob]

Teddington --> Property Industry Update – Gold Coast Reaping Light Rail Rewards:

[ozbob]

Sunday Mail 23rd November 2014 page 21

Around the traps with Peter Cameron

[red dragin]

Car v Tram according to QPS on Facebook.

Driver injured (car or tram not clear) but passengers physically ok.

[ozbob]

Gold Coast Bulletin --> Gold Coast schoolies making the most of the light rail to get to and from beach parties in Surfers Paradise

[ozbob]

Car v Tram according to QPS on Facebook.

Driver injured (car or tram not clear) but passengers physically ok.

Gold Coast Bulletin --> Man injured, light rail delayed after collision between car and tram at Surfers Paradise

... The driver of the car suffered a shoulder injury but none of the 85 passengers on board the tram were injured. ...

[ozbob]

http://www.alex4gaven.com.au/5569/minister-tight-lipped-over-china-rails-purchase-of-gold-coast-rail-operator/

Minister tight-lipped over China Rail's purchase of Gold Coast rail operator

The Main Roads and Transport Minister has refused to answer a question by Member for Gaven  Dr Alex Douglas MP  in State Parliament on claims by Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate that China Rail is purchasing the company operating the Gold Coast light rail.

"Mayor Tate has been openly telling people on the Gold Coast that he has been in China negotiating the sale of GoldLinQ to China Rail, but when I asked the Minister today he avoided the question," Dr Douglas said.

"The Minister did however say that the growth of patronage of the light rail was disappointing and well below the estimates provided by the former Labor Government before the rail was constructed," Dr Douglas said.

"Whilst he blamed this on Labor, he said the LNP government would work with anyone who will honour existing contracts.

"It seems that where Tom Tate and transparency are involved, it's the epitome of an oxymoron.

"With Parliament wrapping up tomorrow, I wanted a straight answer from the Minister about what is really going on with GoldLinQ and deals with the Chinese on the Gold Coast.

"By the time Parliament resumes, Tom Tate could have well delivered an early fortune for the Chinese New Year and the year of the goat.

"Does anyone think that it is strange that Mayor Tate is selling a joint local/state/federal Government owned asset and the responsible Minister either does not know nor care that a newly built $1.3 billion transport system in Australia's tourist capital is being flogged off earlier than our ports, energy generators and power networks ?  The year of the goat indeed?"

Here is the Hansard transcript:

Dr DOUGLAS: My question is to the Minister for Transport and Main Roads. Gold Coast Mayor, Tom Tate, has publicly stated at a meeting of southern Gold Coast business owners that he had just returned from China negotiating the proposed sale of GoldLinQ—operators of the Gold Coast light rail—to China rail, and I ask: can the minister inform the parliament regarding details of the prospective purchase by China Rail of GoldLinQ, the operators of Gold Coast light rail, funded by state taxpayers?

Mr EMERSON: I thank the member for Gaven for the question. In terms of GoldLinQ, they have an ongoing contract with us as part of a PPP to provide services. That contract was signed prior to us coming to office. All those obligations continue in terms of GoldLinQ providing Gold Coast light rail.

Since light rail commenced we have seen strong numbers but not as strong as indicated. The business case first put forward by Labor was a flawed business case. They were forecasting figures of more than 40,000. Each day we are seeing figures of 20,000 at the moment. It is still early days. Clearly that contract is in place, no matter who the owner is, to provide that service. There are very clear obligations in that contract. The owner, whoever they are, is obliged to provide maintenance, equipment and services on an ongoing basis as part of the agreement signed, as I said, before we came to office. We will keep them in place.

In terms of public transport on the Gold Coast, not just the light rail, I point out that since we have come to office we have increased peak morning and peak afternoon services on the Gold Coast heavy rail line. We have seen a 30 per cent increase in morning peak services and a 40 per cent increase in afternoon peak services. As you know, before we came to office many people on the Gold Coast would have been very much aware, including members on the Gold Coast such as the member for Coomera, who travelled with me on the Gold Coast heavy rail from the Gold Coast to Brisbane, of the 'Bombay Express'. Again, since we have come to office we have worked to increase services on the Gold Coast line—a 30 per cent increase in morning peak services and a 40 per cent increase in afternoon peak services.

All of those travellers on the Gold Coast have also benefited from our historic cut to public transport fares—a five per cent cut statewide. It is the first time any government in Queensland history has cut public transport fares. That is on top of, of course, the fact that Queensland Rail services are now running the most reliable on-time services ever in their almost 150-year history and are now the most reliable on-time running services of any metro system in—

Dr DOUGLAS: Madam Speaker, I rise to a point of order.

Madam SPEAKER: Pause the clock. What is your point of order?

Dr DOUGLAS: I asked if the minister could provide detail of the prospective—

Madam SPEAKER: What is your point of order?

Dr DOUGLAS: Relevance, Madam Speaker.

Madam SPEAKER: The minister has time on the clock. I remind members when they are putting a point of order to actually put the point of order, not to debate the question they have already asked. I call the minister.

Mr EMERSON: As I was saying, there are extra services on the Gold Coast and Queensland Rail is now the most reliable metro rail system in Australia. Since coming to office, not just in terms of rail but also in terms of public buses, we have put on an additional 3,000 bus and train weekly services. So we have dealt with the mess left to us by Labor in terms of fares, made services more reliable and also put more services on across public transport.

[ozbob]

http://www.alex4gaven.com.au/5569/minister-tight-lipped-over-china-rails-purchase-of-gold-coast-rail-operator/

Minister tight-lipped over China Rail's purchase of Gold Coast rail operator

The Main Roads and Transport Minister has refused to answer a question by Member for Gaven  Dr Alex Douglas MP  in State Parliament on claims by Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate that China Rail is purchasing the company operating the Gold Coast light rail.

"Mayor Tate has been openly telling people on the Gold Coast that he has been in China negotiating the sale of GoldLinQ to China Rail, but when I asked the Minister today he avoided the question," Dr Douglas said.

"The Minister did however say that the growth of patronage of the light rail was disappointing and well below the estimates provided by the former Labor Government before the rail was constructed," Dr Douglas said.

"Whilst he blamed this on Labor, he said the LNP government would work with anyone who will honour existing contracts.

"It seems that where Tom Tate and transparency are involved, it's the epitome of an oxymoron.

"With Parliament wrapping up tomorrow, I wanted a straight answer from the Minister about what is really going on with GoldLinQ and deals with the Chinese on the Gold Coast.

"By the time Parliament resumes, Tom Tate could have well delivered an early fortune for the Chinese New Year and the year of the goat.

"Does anyone think that it is strange that Mayor Tate is selling a joint local/state/federal Government owned asset and the responsible Minister either does not know nor care that a newly built $1.3 billion transport system in Australia's tourist capital is being flogged off earlier than our ports, energy generators and power networks ?  The year of the goat indeed?"

Here is the Hansard transcript:

Dr DOUGLAS: My question is to the Minister for Transport and Main Roads. Gold Coast Mayor, Tom Tate, has publicly stated at a meeting of southern Gold Coast business owners that he had just returned from China negotiating the proposed sale of GoldLinQ—operators of the Gold Coast light rail—to China rail, and I ask: can the minister inform the parliament regarding details of the prospective purchase by China Rail of GoldLinQ, the operators of Gold Coast light rail, funded by state taxpayers?

Mr EMERSON: I thank the member for Gaven for the question. In terms of GoldLinQ, they have an ongoing contract with us as part of a PPP to provide services. That contract was signed prior to us coming to office. All those obligations continue in terms of GoldLinQ providing Gold Coast light rail.

Since light rail commenced we have seen strong numbers but not as strong as indicated. The business case first put forward by Labor was a flawed business case. They were forecasting figures of more than 40,000. Each day we are seeing figures of 20,000 at the moment. It is still early days. Clearly that contract is in place, no matter who the owner is, to provide that service. There are very clear obligations in that contract. The owner, whoever they are, is obliged to provide maintenance, equipment and services on an ongoing basis as part of the agreement signed, as I said, before we came to office. We will keep them in place.

In terms of public transport on the Gold Coast, not just the light rail, I point out that since we have come to office we have increased peak morning and peak afternoon services on the Gold Coast heavy rail line. We have seen a 30 per cent increase in morning peak services and a 40 per cent increase in afternoon peak services. As you know, before we came to office many people on the Gold Coast would have been very much aware, including members on the Gold Coast such as the member for Coomera, who travelled with me on the Gold Coast heavy rail from the Gold Coast to Brisbane, of the 'Bombay Express'. Again, since we have come to office we have worked to increase services on the Gold Coast line—a 30 per cent increase in morning peak services and a 40 per cent increase in afternoon peak services.

All of those travellers on the Gold Coast have also benefited from our historic cut to public transport fares—a five per cent cut statewide. It is the first time any government in Queensland history has cut public transport fares. That is on top of, of course, the fact that Queensland Rail services are now running the most reliable on-time services ever in their almost 150-year history and are now the most reliable on-time running services of any metro system in—

Dr DOUGLAS: Madam Speaker, I rise to a point of order.

Madam SPEAKER: Pause the clock. What is your point of order?

Dr DOUGLAS: I asked if the minister could provide detail of the prospective—

Madam SPEAKER: What is your point of order?

Dr DOUGLAS: Relevance, Madam Speaker.

Madam SPEAKER: The minister has time on the clock. I remind members when they are putting a point of order to actually put the point of order, not to debate the question they have already asked. I call the minister.

Mr EMERSON: As I was saying, there are extra services on the Gold Coast and Queensland Rail is now the most reliable metro rail system in Australia. Since coming to office, not just in terms of rail but also in terms of public buses, we have put on an additional 3,000 bus and train weekly services. So we have dealt with the mess left to us by Labor in terms of fares, made services more reliable and also put more services on across public transport.

[#Metro]

I don't see what the fuss is all about. What are the Chinese going to do with it? Stop running the tram?

Patronage figures would be higher (a) assuming that fares were not cost-explosive due to a certain operator in Brisbane and (b) the line was more functional by connecting to heavy rail.

[SurfRail]

There's virtually nobody involved in the public administration of any aspect of this city that takes their job seriously.  Very select few - the GCCC transport section, some of the councillors (William Owen Jones and Greg Betts have long supported light rail and are decent people).  Nobody at State level except Alex, even if this is a bit of an oddball thing to be pursuing.

[dancingmongoose]

Gold Coast business owners fear kiosks at light rail stations will cost them dearly -> http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/gold-coast-business-owners-fear-kiosks-at-light-rail-stations-will-cost-them-dearly/story-fnj90t7b-1227142409603

[SurfRail]

Making light work of light rail for the vision impaired --> http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/12/03/4141214.htm

[ozbob]

Twitter

GoldLinQ ‏@gclightrail

Meet the managers tomorrow at #cavill #southport and uni #hospital stations http://ow.ly/FXkPd  1pm-2pm

[ozbob]

Twitter

GoldLinQ ‏@gclightrail

Meet the managers tomorrow at #cavill #southport and uni #hospital stations http://ow.ly/FXkPd  1pm-2pm

Twitter

GoldLinQ ‏@gclightrail

Missed the meet the managers sessions today? Give us your ideas and feedback direct at http://ow.ly/FXlPd  or call us on 1800 064 928.

[ozbob]

Twitter

GoldLinQ ‏@gclightrail 43 seconds ago

Let the games begin #Glink running every 7.5 minutes from now until 2am tomorrow morning. #HappyNewYears http://ow.ly/GjBhi

[SurfRail]

http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/green-light-needed-by-march-if-light-rail-extension-to-be-delivered-for-gold-coast-comm-games/story-fnj94j0t-1227172957542

[ozbob]

Twitter

GoldLinQ ‏@gclightrail 1 minute ago

Lots of #lostproperty left on the tram over the holidays. If ur missing something & think u left it on the G: give us a call on 1800 064 928

[SurfRail]

http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/gold-coast/fun-police-shut-down-gold-coast-no-pants-tram-ride-before-it-begins/story-fnj94idh-1227181500061

[ozbob]

Twitter

Josh Adsett ‏@joshadsett 4 minutes ago

Breaking now. A tram and car have collided in Surfers Paradise. @7NewsBrisbane

[ozbob]

Twitter

Josh Adsett ‏@joshadsett 2 minutes ago

Police have allowed tram to leave. Traffic chaos in Surfers now. @7NewsBrisbane

[ozbob]

Twitter

Malcolm Turnbull ‏@TurnbullMalcolm 3 minutes ago

Looking fwd to making NBN announcement with @steveciobo 2day - but first a ride on the G Coast light rail. Excellent!



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

^

Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow 23 seconds ago

. @TurnbullMalcolm @steveciobo Funded in part by Federal Govt Malcolm. PT/urban rail is as worthy of IA funding as are roads . just sayin'

[pandmaster]

Mr. Abbott would not be caught dead on PT. Not liberal enough for him.

"The humblest person is a king in his own car." Describing himself it seems.

[SurfRail]

The loadings were very healthy yesterday around 8:00pm even on the GCUH to Southport section - around 40-50 onboard.  (There was some kind of Griffith Uni rummage sale going on adjacent to the main Southport stop with food stalls, the place was a lot more lively than usual.)

Even heading back home to Robina on the 750 leaving BBS at around 10pm, there were easily around 20-25 people on and off the whole trip, including a not inconsiderable number of people boarding the bus along the route at all points.  Very pleasing to see.

[techblitz]

^ that is very decent for the 750 @ that time

[ozbob]

G:link enews --> http://us8.campaign-archive1.com/?u=1f2c1e3d831d7251819e5902b&id=44993894cf

[ozbob]

Twitter

GoldLinQ ‏@gclightrail 15 seconds ago

More trams from 4am for #ANZAC day #dawnservice on #goldcoast http://ow.ly/LgTnj 

[SurfRail]

There is at least one tram getting around with its interior PIDs showing connecting HF bus routes at the main interchange points.  The route numbers appear below the stop name on the countdown screen, and the route descriptions flash up as you approach (ie when you near Cypress Ave it tells you the 740 goes from Surfers to Nerang via Ashmore).  They do not all appear to have this arrangement based on some trips I made yesterday.

Also a lot of the bare surfaces on the station platforms have now been stickered up with various information - one of them is a ready reckoner to calculate journey times, another is general information, and there are some which appear to be meant to have the monthly performance figures posted up on them.

[bretto82]

https://www.facebook.com/SevenNewsBrisbane/posts/957675794245273 This was on 7 news tonight seems a bit odd of a issue

[#Metro]

Whaaat? How did this make the nightly news bulletin?   

Must be slow news day!!

[SurfRail]

Sigh.

This issue affects EVERY SINGLE TRAFFIC SIGNAL ANYWHERE.  They are ALL based on timers and if the intersection is not clear, they lights will still show the safe crossing message.

Same things regularly happens at the intersection of Adelaide and Creek Sts in town, where it is common to see inbound traffic misjudge the flow and get stuck in the intersection while pedestrians navigate around them.

The only issue here is because the crossing is across part of the road not navigable by anything other than trams.

[hU0N]

Hardly the same.  This is very much a design problem.  I'm not sure what the policy is on tram drivers entering the intersection on orange, but clearly once the T light goes red a timer counts down the amount of time that a tram entering at the last possible second should take to clear the intersection, then it triggers the green light on the cross street / pedestrian crossing.  In this case, the designer has obviously forgotten to allow for the slower tram speeds at this location caused by the station located on the far side of the intersection.

It's not the same thing as drivers entering a congested intersection and getting stranded.  And even if it was, it would be evidence of poor driver behaviour / training that could have been avoided given the very small fleet of vehicles and drivers we are talking about.

A better analogy would be if the boom gates on Dawson Parade at Grovely started to rise while an inbound train was still crossing the road into the station.  I don't know if that is even technically possible, but if it was, it would be rightly called a design flaw.  Similarly this.  It might not be a huge issue in the grand scheme of things, and people crossing should definitely be walking around with their eyes open, but it deserves to be recognised for the design flaw that it is, and a fix should be implemented.

I imagine a fix would not be that complicated, add 10 extra seconds between the red T light and the green on the cross street (in the problematic direction only), and the problem would be fixed.

[SurfRail]

The railway example is a poor analogy because the interlockings prevent such a thing from occurring.

The reality is that at all intersections on the route you are dealing with a 43.5m tram which may or may not have cleared an intersection before the signals change for a variety of reasons from time to time (for instance pedestrians on the track, which is a daily occurrence).  That won't change even if the bugs are fixed.

This particular issue is a timer at one intersection in one direction which I agree can be fixed.  It's hardly newsworthy.

[SurfRail]

5 million pax carried:

http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/traffic-reports/gold-coast-light-rail-racks-up-major-milestone-with-5-million-passengers-inside-first-year/story-fnl6qvfc-1227336777196

My informal prediction is around 6.3 million by the end of 19 July 2015, which will mark 1 year of operations after the launch day on 20 July 2014.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Leon Benn ‏@LeonBenn 1 hour ago

Fantastic 22.6% public transport use uplift in Gold Coast. Phil Mumford at QLD Trans Infra Conf. @gclightrail

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

[colinw]

5 million pax carried:

http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/traffic-reports/gold-coast-light-rail-racks-up-major-milestone-with-5-million-passengers-inside-first-year/story-fnl6qvfc-1227336777196

My informal prediction is around 6.3 million by the end of 19 July 2015, which will mark 1 year of operations after the launch day on 20 July 2014.

That is impressive - quite a bit more than the Sydney light rail which does about 4 million annually.  Probably busier than Adelaide as well, but don't know the patronage figures there.

The extensions to Helensvale and also further south are both a bit of a no-brainer really.

Ultimately I hope this grows into a multi-line network and the Gold Coast becomes a true "tram city".