The Sunshine Coast Case : Rail duplication Beerburrum to Nambour

[Stillwater]

Demographer Bernard Salt told 400 attendees at a Sunshine Coast Future Forum today that fast 'hard' rail connecting the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane was the biggest single impediment to the Sunny Coast achieving its full potential.  The Premier was a speaker also and promised $7.5m in state money (to be matched by council funding) to prepare a public transport (incl. light rail) business case for the Sunny Coast.

Re the $160m on the table for SCL duplication, she intimated that that money was for detailed design, land acquisition and public consultation etc associated with the duplication to Landsborough.  I had the impression that none of it is for actual construction, leaving the fed money on offer as being all there is for construction.

Salt presented figures that showed Queensland was not getting its fair share of federal infrastructure spending relative to its projected population growth.

[Fares_Fair]

Your assessment is accurate SW.

I asked the Minister when construction would start on the rail duplication.
He said that planning works were underway (it had been 10 months since the $160.8m announcement) but gave no answer for when construction works were to begin.

[Fares_Fair]

On 14 April 2019 I wrote to the CEO of Queensland Rail, Mr Nick Easy requesting information about the nine new trains the Sunshine Coast were promised for 2016.
I have yet to receive a reply.

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily 10th May 2019 page 11

Minister: We need more than crumbs

[Stillwater]

Am waiting for the media conference where Mr Bailey criticises federal Labor for committing 'only $390m' to the SCL duplication.  No?   

[Fares_Fair]

On 14 April 2019 I wrote to the CEO of Queensland Rail, Mr Nick Easy requesting information about the nine new trains the Sunshine Coast were promised for 2016.
I have yet to receive a reply.

I was today contacted by Queensland Rail.
I resent my email and I am told that I will get a reply as soon as possible.
Thank you QR  :-)

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily --> Wallace calls on State Government to 'wake up' on rail

MEMBER for Fisher Andrew Wallace has called on the State Government to deliver their "fair share" of funding for the Sunshine Coast's rail line in the wake of the LNP's federal election win.

Mr Wallace, who was re-elected on May 18 with an increased majority, said the election result showed Queenslanders were tired of Labor's "neglect".

"Sunshine Coast residents have had enough of the Palaszczuk Government's politicking and inaction," Mr Wallace said.　　

"The Morrison Government is investing 50 per cent of the funding needed to duplicate the North Coast Rail Line and get the regular and reliable train service we need. All we get from this do nothing, say nothing Labor State Government is excuses." Mr Wallace said.　

The LNP allocated $390 million toward upgrades to the North Coast Rail in the 2018 Federal Budget.

The State Labor Government has allocated $160.8 million, 20 per cent of the project's cost.

Mr Wallace said Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's apparent backflip on approval for the Adani Carmichael mine showed Labor knew they had let Queenslanders down.　

"The Premier should take a moment to give Minister Mark Bailey a call, tell him to pull his finger out and deliver a fair funding deal for the Sunshine Coast," he said.　

The State Opposition has pledged to provide 50 per cent of the funding for the project if elected to government in 2020.　

"Deb Frecklington and the State LNP have listened to Sunshine Coast residents. They understand, just like the Federal Coalition Government, how important this project is to our community's future," Mr Wallace said.

"I call on the Premier and Mark Bailey to wake up to the clear will of Queenslanders, respect the people of the Sunshine Coast and deliver the funding our community deserves. Let's just get on with it," he said.

The Daily has contacted the State Government for comment.

A posted comment on this article:

Perhaps Mr Wallace might like to comment why road gets 80:20 funding from the Federal Government on the Sunshine Coast, because it is classed as regional, whilst rail only gets 50:50 funding and is classed as suburban.

Mr Wallace should take a moment to give Scomo a call, and remind him that the rail line goes all the way up to Cairns, and travels through electorates that delivered victory for his government.

The Queensland State Government does not have to pull its finger out, Mr Wallace does.

[Stillwater]

Mr Bailey states that unless more money is forthcoming from Canberra, the state 'may have to stage this project'.  Good, then let's get on a build it with the $550m already committed.

Perhaps the work should proceed south from Landsborough rather than north from Beerburrum.  This would allow all the roadworks at Landsborough that are classed as part of this project to proceed AND in the same timeframe as the Landsborough Master Plan that the SCC is finalising.

This, we would see a major upgrade of both Beerwah and Landsborough, and trackwork further south of Beerwah -- and maybe even the spur stub for the CAMCOS rail corridor.

That way, SCC contributes to the project to the equivalent of their master plan, which needs to be coordinated with the State Government scheduled road reconfiguration and changes.

It would be a major boost to the regional economy.

The SCL duplication is becoming the next Adani in respect of the setting of deadlines for final approvals to be given and work starting.  More than half a billion dollars is available to draw down for these works, although it is unclear whether any of the $160m from the state will go to actual rail track duplication.

[Stillwater]

Trad/Bailey have always claimed, without foundation, that all other major rail projects in SEQ are dependant on CRR, which must be funded first before the others proceed.  Does a delay in CRR (due to federal Labor not getting in and, therefore, not kicking $2.2b into what we are told always is a 'wholly state-funded project') mean that other projects such as SCL duplication, will be put back?  Will the $160m on the table now from the state government be absorbed into CRR?  And what of the $390m offer from the re-elected Coalition government in Canberra?  Will it just sit unspent while the Queensland Government continues its ideological standoff with Canberra?

Clearly, it will be a tight state budget now, with infrastructure spending being an important economic stimulus. Will $390m just lie idle while unemployment on the SC rises?

The Queensland Labor Government must swallow its pride, just as it did with the Adani project delays and obfuscation, and open the way forward for the SCL duplication to proceed, even as Minister Bailey has said, in a staged manner.

[verbatim9]

^^Can it be built to coincide with the opening of CRR? 2025? That's a realistic timeframe for both. If they get it done earlier? It's a bonus for the travelling public and the Government.

[Fares_Fair]

^^Can it be built to coincide with the opening of CRR? 2025? That's a realistic timeframe for both. If they get it done earlier? It's a bonus for the travelling public and the Government.

Absolutely, they could, If only they would fund it more than the paltry 20% on offer.
They were paying 100% for #2tracks back in 2009 before they broke the then $300m contract.

[Fares_Fair]

On 14 April 2019 I wrote to the CEO of Queensland Rail, Mr Nick Easy requesting information about the nine new trains the Sunshine Coast were promised for 2016.
I have yet to receive a reply.

Today I received a response to my original correspondence.
I was contacted by QR about this matter and my original email was resent on 22 May 2019, and an ASAP reply was offered.

Thank you Mr Nick Easy, CEO of Queensland Rail.

[Fares_Fair]

A new timetable was issued for the Sunshine Coast line on 13 May 2019, in light of the 32 extra services per week added to the SEQ network.
None were allocated to the Sunshine Coast.

In summary, we (still) have just 320 services per week.
75 (23.4%) of the 320 are buses.
Almost a quarter of ALL our trains = 

These include 18 services to/from Gympie North each week.
Of the 18, there are 2 services to/from Gympie North on Saturday's.
1 service Gympie North to City on Sunday.
3 services City to Gympie North on Sunday's.

No construction start date has been announced for #2tracks.

UPDATE: Construction will occur in the next two years according to a statement from the Transport Minister, Hon Mark Bailey MP, in a report on ABC Sunshine Coast radio on Thursday 13 June 2019.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1136514636851716096

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily --> Enough of the games: MPs urge State to cough up cash

STATE and Federal LNP members have turned the blowtorch on what they claim is continued ignorance of the region by the State Government.

Fairfax MP Ted O'Brien called on the Palaszczuk government to come clean with its funding intentions for the region, ahead of Tuesday's State Budget.

"Enough of the games, if the Palaszczuk Government has no intention of funding projects on the Sunshine Coast, I'd prefer they just come clean and tell us," he said.

"Sunshine Coast residents have had a gut full of State Labor's hollow promises and their practice of talking up plans to build infrastructure, then kicking the can down the road.

"Sunshine Coasters have a right to expect local projects not just listed in the budget but also funded."

Data from Infrastructure New South Wales, modelled using publicly-available budget papers and prepared prior to this year's Federal Budget showed Queensland's state infrastructure spending had been dwarfed by its southern neighbours.

In the 2018-19 financial year the New South Wales state infrastructure spend of $24.471 billion far outstripped Queensland's expenditure of $5.927 billion.

Forward estimates showed the trend was set to continue, with Queensland set to spend only $7.081 billion in 2021-22 compared to $19.147 billion in New South Wales.

Mr O'Brien and Glass House MP and state Shadow Infrastructure Minister Andrew Powell dismissed the notion the Federal Government wasn't doing enough to help Queensland.

"The Federal Government is doing the heavy lifting," Mr Powell said.

In 2018-19 federal funding made up 26.63 per cent of Queensland's infrastructure spend, compared to just 8.1 per cent of New South Wales'.

That percentage was set to climb in Queensland to 27.11 per cent by 2021-22, significantly higher than the 4.17 per cent of New South Wales' state infrastructure spending.

Maroochydore MP Fiona Simpson said the Coast needed a "fairer share" of the state infrastructure spending pie, as the state's infrastructure investment dwindled.

Mr O'Brien said the Federal Government was investing 26 per cent of its total infrastructure spending (nearly $9.7 billion) in Queensland over the next four years.

He called on the State Government to match the Federal Government's 50-50 North Coast Rail Line duplication funding commitment.

To date the State Government had committed $160 million towards the project, but there remained a $230 million shortfall.

Both Bill Shorten and Federal Labor Leader Anthony Albanese had committed to matching the Federal Government's 50-50 commitment.

Mr O'Brien also called for $23 million to be included in the State Budget to bridge the gap needed to start a $301 million upgrade of the Bruce Highway at the Maroochydore Rd and Mons Rd interchanges.

"Despite having guaranteed 80 per cent of funding from the Federal Government, we continue to wait for the State to come to the party," he said.

A State Government spokesman said the details of the State Budget "will be released next week".

"The ABS has indicated the Queensland Government's infrastructure investment is contributing to Queensland having the strongest domestic economic growth in mainland Australia," the spokesman said.

Queensland Treasurer Jackie Trad committed to keep investing in the state during her budget speech this week, as she highlighted the state's low unemployment and booming exports.

[Stillwater]

The Sunshine Coast Daily story of even more relevance appeared about one year ago, on 9 June 2018.
It read:

"A start date for construction of an upgrade to the Sunshine Coast rail line has been announced after the state government committed $160 million in funding as part of the Queensland budget, due to be delivered in full on Tuesday."

The story then went on to quote the Treasurer, Jackie Trad:

Ms Trad announced on Saturday that planning would continue during the 2018-19 financial year before the five-year construction period was set to begin in 2019-20.

"We need to respond to the need of a rapidly growing population ... this will be the duplication of the last single-track section on the south-east Queensland rail network," she said. "The Beerburrum to Nambour Rail Duplication will deliver increased capacity, travel time savings for passenger and freight services, and increased reliability on the North Coast Line.

"It will reduce the competition between passenger and freight services, and enable vital public transport links to the rapidly growing Sunshine Coast area.

"This project wouldn't be able to happen if the Palaszczuk government hadn't kickstarted it by doing the business case and submitting to Infrastructure Australia last year after three years of inaction by the former LNP Government."

So, there we have it ... construction is set to begin in the upcoming financial year, when construction funding needs to be allocated from the $550m sitting idle, waiting to be spent.  No more delays, no more additional reports or Business Case studies, just machinery on the ground, shifting dirt.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1138325324989468674

[Stillwater]

$50m is probably about all they could spend in one year, given the construction resources that could be thrown at duplication.  It would be nice to know what $50m buys and in what electorate(s) it will be spent.

[verbatim9]

I wonder why 749 million was allocated to the Busway extension yet nothing to rail duplication to Landsborough?

Sent from my SM-T380 using Tapatalk

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1138325324989468674

Response ...   

https://twitter.com/Jeffrey_Addison/status/1138431373012692992

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1138310370924191744

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1138486648025505792

[Stillwater]

The crucial issue is whether the $50m going 'out the door' as the Minister puts it is actually going to be used for construction as opposed to further planning and land acquisition? And if construction, where? What does the $50m buy exactly? What does the $160m buy?

And whose $160m is being spent over four years?  Is that state money? Or is the $160m coming from $390m the Australian Government has provided for this project (i.e. zilch from the state government, zero, none)?

The politics being played around this project is unreal and unprecedented.

[ozbob]

There was a press conference at Landsborough station this morning.  I wonder what it was about? 

Member for Fisher called it.

[Fares_Fair]

Hmm. I wonder.

Another press conference was held in Maroochydore with the member for Fairfax it included Bruce Atkinson from 90.3 FM ABC Radio Sunshine Coast, Bryce Heaton and Jordan from WIN Nine News, Simon Nicholls from Seven Local News and Scott Sawyer from the Sunshine Coast Daily.
It was crowded. 

[ozbob]

 

The Sunshine Coast Daily --> Rail advocate, MPs fume after state fails to match rail cash

FURIOUS rail campaigner Jeff Addison has called on Coast voters to boot out the State Government after its failure to match federal funding to kickstart rail duplication.

He was speaking after Tuesday's State Budget, which confirmed just $50 million towards the North Coast Rail Line duplication from Beerburrum to Nambour in 2019-20, out of the State's previous $160 million commitment.

It meant a $230 million shortfall remained in the $780 million project, despite both the Federal Government and Federal Opposition committing to fund half ($390 million) of the project.

Mr Addison, who'd been campaigning for duplication since 2009 when the project was dropped by the Labor Government, said he was "extraordinarily disappointed".

"$50 million would be lucky to build you 1.5km of a rail line," he said.

He said the State Government clearly knew population growth was coming to the region, as it had dictated, and he could not understand why it continued to "spite" the region.

"We're deliberately being strangled with our infrastructure," Mr Addison said.

"The people of the Sunshine Coast deserve better. Our services are abysmal.

"If this government won't do it, then turf them out."

Fairfax MP Ted O'Brien said the State Government was now "completely isolated" in its demand for the Federal Government to fund 80 per cent of the project, after Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese both committed to 50/50 funding.

He said the fast rail business case would continue, but the North Coast Rail Line duplication was a "prerequisite" for fast rail.

"They can't keep enjoying population growth on the Sunshine Coast then starve us of infrastructure," Mr O'Brien said.

He said they had no more excuses "left in the locker".

"Enough of the games," Mr O'Brien said.

"If you're going to be a 'gonna' government, you'll be turfed out."

Fisher MP Andrew Wallace, whose electorate encompassed the Caloundra South community called in by the State Government, which was set to house 50,000 new residents, said there was not enough infrastructure to satisfy the demand of that community.

"The State Labor Government just refuses to invest in areas it sees it has no political mileage," he said.

He said road investment was also lacking, and pointed to the likes of Caloundra Rd, Nicklin Way and the Kawana Link Way as growing problems for commuters.

"They are just not funding the sort of roads and rail that the Sunshine Coast expects," Mr Wallace said.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1138695939734900737

[ozbob]

 

[Stillwater]

I reckon the Sunshine Coast line duplication has had more political delays and hold-ups than the Adani coal mine.
The people of the Sunshine Coast (and the rail freight sector further north to Maryborough, Townsville and Cairns, it has to be said) are fed up and will take to State Labor the same way they had the baseball bats ready for Federal Labor over Adani and a lack of progress at the recent federal election.

[ozbob]

 

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1138701786980556800

[Stillwater]

It's time for the state government to change its tune.

https://www.facebook.com/7NEWSSC/videos/2400359156875509/

[Fares_Fair]

A gteat summary here by Seven Local News
I challenge the Minister at the end of the clip.
Give us a start date.
Fund it properly.

https://twitter.com/7NewsSC/status/1138692142606344192

[ozbob]

Hear Hear FF !! 

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1138874341964144640

[#Metro]

Great press conference FF!

[Stillwater]

The local media are all over this project, thanks to the tireless efforts of advocate Jeff Addison to inform journalists of the facts. The facts are known and established and can't be refuted. State Labor is defying advice from departments, ignoring sense, logic, economic and demographic strategy, its own policies on reducing greenhouse gasses and reduction of car usage and, yes, basic human decency.

The contrasts in the clip are stark -- the passion of a decent man, arguably who knows the ins and outs of this project more than any other individual (and, hence has the media's / community's respect), the businesslike advocacy and frustration of a local federal member experienced in deal-making ...

And a tall politician punishing a community for not voting Labor.

Ministers Trad and Bailey have taken this project to the political arena and that is where the battle now must be won.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/7NewsSC/status/1138719800937467905

[#Metro]

Create an authority or company with the state and feds as shareholders.

Put the money into a trust fund that invests or earns interest.

Make a release condition that no funds will be spent unless both state and fed agree in writing.

The longer the delay, the more funding the fund will earn, pushing the project closer to full funding.

[ozbob]

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily --> RAIL FEUD: Bailey hits back at funding critics

TRANSPORT and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey has hit back at calls to dump the State Government from frustrated Coast rail campaigners.

The calls from Sunshine Coast Rail Back on Track spokesman Jeff Addison, echoed by Fairfax MP Ted O'Brien, came in response to the State Government's failure to commit $230 million to cover a funding shortfall for North Coast Rail Line duplication.

The pair called on the State Government to match the 50-50 funding commitment made by the Federal Government and Federal Opposition.

Mr Bailey told the Daily the Abbott Government added the North Coast Line to its National Land Transport Network in 2014, which qualified it for 80 per cent federal funding.

"The Morrison Government funds rail projects in other states at 80 per cent, like the $700 million track duplication at Geelong they announced during the election campaign," Mr Bailey said.

"The Morrison Government refuses to be consistent with its own funding rules and has chosen to short change the Sunshine Coast in favour of different states and it's Sunshine Coast commuters who suffer."

Mr Addison called on voters to turf out the State Government in light of its failure to commit the 50 per cent funding for the vital project.

Mr O'Brien warned the State Government it had "no more excuses left in the locker".

But Mr Bailey warned Coast residents they should be "wary of the LNP's calls to sign them up to a terrible funding deal for the Beerburrum to Nambour project when a better deal could be struck".

He said Tuesday's State Budget had confirmed $210 million would be spent over the next two years on the project, with $242 million to be spent in the third year.

[Arnz]

Out of Bailey and Former Minister Emerson, both could compete on "Who can blame the "former" (opposing) government" the most, as opposed to actually doing their jobs as transport ministers. 

No doubt those two would top the list for the "Worst Transport Ministers" in many (Transport Gunzel/Commuters) people's minds.