Sunshine Coast Mass Transit Project

[ozbob]

From the Sunshine Coast Daily click here!

Council to discuss light rail

Council to discuss light rail

Trevor Hockins | 15th August 2012 5:00 AM

A REPORT, to be presented to a closed meeting of the council next week, will lay the groundwork for an integrated Sunshine Coast transport system, including a likely light rail system.

Council transport portfolio chief Rick Baberowski said the report would include three integrated system choices, but was staying quiet on the specifics until the council had a chance to look at them.

The council is expected to release the details, including some costings, later in the year.

Cr Baberowski said a workable, practical public transport system was essential for the Coast's future.

He said it had to fit in with larger transport networks to work properly, and that was where careful planning came in.

"I'm pretty comfortable that I can mount a good argument for an integrated transport system, but, of course, in the end it is the council's decision," he said.

Cr Baberowski, who was a senior bureaucrat for a decade before being elected to the council in April, said he believed it was essential that key communities were connected by good public transport.

Those key areas include Sunshine Coast Airport, the Coast's new health precinct in Kawana and commercial and tourist areas.

He said Coast transport in turn had to be linked to larger transport systems in south-east Queensland, such as rail.

"Ultimately, we have to have an integrated road and rail system on the Coast that works," he said.

"That is an imperative for the future."

Cr Baberowski, who lives at Beerwah and has divisional responsibilities for an area that stretches from Caloundra West to Glasshouse Mountains, admitted that the rail service between Brisbane and the Coast was not functioning well.

"Ultimately, it's up to us to argue to have that improved," he said. "And that is no doubt what we will be doing.

"But it is up to us to make the case to higher authorities, to build, for example, dual rail lines."

The busy North Coast line, which links Brisbane and Nambour, is notorious for service problems.

The difficulties are partly to do with dual rail lines running only to Beerwah, which causes a glut of trains between Beerwah and Nambour.

Earlier this year, the Federal Government gave the council $500,000 for a feasibility study into light rail and transport options.

[ozbob]

Despite the slight slip in the article, they are zeroing in on the need to sort out the Sunshine Coast line ...

[Fares_Fair]

indeed, it should have read Beerburrum (not Beerwah) to Nambour.

By glut of trains, I'm sure they refer to the congestion on the predominant single line track shared with freight, long distance trains and city train services.
Not forgetting the 44% of weekday rail buses pretending to be trains due to the 'glut.'

[SurfRail]

If they can afford something like this, they can afford to just give the money to Campbell so they can duplicate the line to Nambour and build CAMCOS, and maybe an extra hundred or so buses.  There is no point mucking around with this sort of thing while the basics are so rooted.

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

A tram to Mooloolaba? Sunshine Coast considers light rail option

A tram to Mooloolaba? Sunshine Coast considers light rail option

Date August 27, 2012 - 4:31PM Katherine Feeney

A $4 million feasibility study for light rail on the Sunshine Coast has been approved by Mayor Mark Jamieson, although it remains unclear how the project, likely to cost billions, would be funded.

In signing off on a two-year study into a proposed corridor between Caloundra and Maroochydore today, Mr Jamieson said stage one could be established as soon as 2020.

But the council will be unable to pay for the plan unless a deal is struck with government or the private sector. Given the state government's current cost-cutting mission, such a deal seems unlikely any time soon.

In response to the announcement, a spokeswoman for the Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Scott Emerson, said the project was not a priority.

"The Newman government's focus is to deliver on election commitments and to improve the state's dire financial situation," she said.

"A light rail project on the Sunshine Coast is not a priority project at this time."

Yet the project's leader, Ken Deutscher, said council was hopeful the million-dollar study would present a convincing business case to the state.

"In fairness to the minister's office, this is a project that's only really just come out of council today and they probably haven't been brought up to speed on where we're at," Mr Deutscher said.

"That's a dialogue process that has to happen now."

The feasibility study would also investigate a public private partnership funding model, similar to the one responsible for getting the Gold Coast's GoldLinQ mass transit system off the ground.

GoldLinQ was realised thanks to contributions of $365 million from the Commonwealth, $464 million from the State Government and $120 million from the Gold Coast City Council, in addition to private funds.

"Gold Coast is a partnership between three levels and we think it's a good funding model for us to follow," Mr Deutscher said.

If successful, the light rail system would travel between the Sunshine Coast's major destinations including Maroochydore, Mooloolaba, Caloundra and the new hospital and town centre at Kawana.

Like GoldLinQ, which is due to open in 2014, the Sunshine Coast track would look to link in with the local airport at a later stage.

Light rail taskforce member and Maroochydore architect James Birrell, who initially tabled the plans for light rail at the Sunshine Coast six years ago, said GoldLinQ also gave a good indiction of how much the Sunshine Coast project would cost.

"The Gold Coast [light rail] came in at around $1.2 billion and that's a reasonable figure to look at for stage one," Mr Birrell said.

"But the final figures will come out in the business case - it's important to remember that there's cost avoidance in infrastructure if you start to condense your urban footprint of where people live, not to mention this project will also help create jobs."

Cr Jamieson said the project was estimated to yield 9000 jobs during construction and operation.

"We want to become the most sustainable region in Australia - light rail could help us to get to that destination," Cr Jamieson said.

Mr Birrell said without the project, the Sunshine Coast could end up with the urban sprawl challenging Brisbane's public transport network.

"The coast is facing a major increase in population and being someone who was born here I've seen the coast undergo a lot of changes which haven't been good for the character and feel of the area," he said.

"The Sunshine Coast will end up like Brisbane if it keeps going business as usual - our quality of life will really be affected - this will enable us to refocus human settlement patterns, reduce urban sprawl, and protect our way of life.

"It's about letting transport dictate urban form, rather than the other way around."
Brisbane City Council currently has no plans for a similar light rail network, however a $2 million feasibility study into a new bus network is currently being conducted by AECOM.

Due for completion in mid-2013, the Suburbs 2 City Buslink includes a proposed new green bridge from the Cultural Centre and aims to reduce congestion on surface roads by taking 8000 buses off CBD streets per day.

Meanwhile plans for the state government's pared-back $4.4 billion Cross River Rail Project have been submitted to Infrastructure Australia for funding consideration.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/a-tram-to-mooloolaba-sunshine-coast-considers-light-rail-option-20120827-24w2y.html

[achiruel]

If they can afford something like this, they can afford to just give the money to Campbell so they can duplicate the line to Nambour and build CAMCOS, and maybe an extra hundred or so buses.  There is no point mucking around with this sort of thing while the basics are so rooted.

I don't think they can afford it, as the article says they will need Government of private sector support.

However I agree that to do this while the NCL continues to be unduplicated is a misplacement of priorities.  How about some more bus priority around Mooloolaba/Maroochydore for a start?

[Arnz]

I'd rather have CoastConnect bus priorities fast tracked ahead of Light Rail (or the Airport upgrade for that matter).  Also, some new units to replace the remaining pie-carts (not many left), and maximising the service restructure (eg merging the Air Parcel coverage routes with other routes and axing the air parcel routes that largely duplicate the trunk runs).

Of course, the rail duplication and re-alignment from Beerburrum to Landsborough (at least) would still be my main priority/pick, imo.

[Jonno]

No doubt the Council has millions for road upgrades but cannot not afford Public Transport upgrades.  It is this "BS" spin that we need to change.  The answer to our transport nightmare in SEQ is not more road space AND more public/active transport.  IT is more more public/active transport and less road space.  We cannot afford both and the additional road space just creates more traffic problems.

[somebody]

Sunshine Coast doesn't need higher capacity vehicles.  Just ramp up bus services.

[#Metro]

I think this might be a good idea.

Heavy infrastructure (a la 'concrete') usually takes up to a decade to deliver from first conception through to final delivery. Gold Coast Light Rail was being talked about in 2003 and started off as a GCCC report into Light Rail by the then mayor Gary Baildon.

So I wouldn't write it off as pipedream yet and furthermore, the tall buildings and further development may favour a class B ROW solution rather than class A - which leaves us with BRT and LRT options.

In the interim, I agree that bus services should be ramped up. This will start the patronage base to be there in preparation for rapid transit. There isn't a reason why BRT corridors can't be LRT corridors in the future, so a rolling program of separations of buses from general traffic should be pursued. The council has the power to do this as it controls much of the local road network itself.

So follow CoastConnect for now, make sure there is some heavy rail to at least Caloundra (to act as a hub pending further extension of the heavy rail line).

[ozbob]

612 ABC Afternoons with Kelly Higgins-Devine, Brisbane had a segment on light rail this afternoon.  Interview and discussion on light rail generally.  A number of talk back calls as well.

Might be on the 612 Afternoon blogg later today.

[achiruel]

So follow CoastConnect for now, make sure there is some heavy rail to at least Caloundra (to act as a hub pending further extension of the heavy rail line).

Which would be entirely useless without further duplication of the NCL.  To Beerwah, at least.

[colinw]

Sunshine Coast Daily -> Light rail cost said to blow out

A RETIRED development analyst has warned the Sunshine Coast not to follow the Gold Coast by installing a light rail network.

Alan Midwood, who wrote the Midwood Report on property investment, has described the Gold Coast light rail project as a cost burden that has already proven a failure.

The Sunshine Coast Council has endorsed light rail as its vision for public transport and has begun studying the business case and feasibility of a system, including potential routes.

The first stage of a light rail system on the Sunshine Coast has been put at $1.3 billion.

In a letter to the Daily, Mr Midwood said the cost of the Gold Coast light rail had blown out from an original $360 million to $1.85 billion and was still rising.

While construction of the Gold Coast system was expected to cost $1.1 billion, another $750 million was needed to widen roads and replace hydraulic, electric and telephone services underneath that would be inaccessible once the tracks were down.

Mr Midwood said $365 million of the Gold Coast's money was coming from the Australian Investment Fund, and $1.365 billion was being borne by the State Government, but the Sunshine Coast could not expect such hand-outs.

"Readers can make their own assessment of that happening again under the Campbell Newman Government," he said.

Mr Midwood said the Gold Coast did not have the population base to support light rail and the Sunshine Coast even less so.

He said the benefits of light rail did not outweigh the costs.

Businesses along the Gold Coast's route were losing trade during construction, 2000 car parking spaces would be lost, and the light rail tram cars would impede the flow of traffic which would have to stop every time passengers alighted, he said.

A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson said the council would continue to work closely with Gold Coast and TransLink colleagues during analysis of the feasibility and business case for the project.

"If it doesn't measure up it won't proceed. This is fundamentally what a feasibility assessment is all about," the spokesperson said.

They said light rail had been the preferred option in similar environments around the world.

[SurfRail]

Alan Midwood is part of RARAGC, who put out that dodgy costing assessment a few weeks ago.  Their patronage estimate was 10,000 passengers per day in total. 

Idiots!

[nathandavid88]

Isn't Midwood also the one who reckoned that he saw buses going down the GC Hwy with 3 passengers on board, or some other ludicrous story?

[colinw]

If he is claiming 10,000 for the Gold Coast Light Rail then he's either a fool or a liar. That would represent a huge drop in patronage compared to the current bus service, which is a most unlikely outcome!

I predict that within the first month of opening the Gold Coast Light Rail will have the highest daily patronage of any single rail route in QLD.

[SurfRail]

^ Yes.  He might have done (I've been the only person on board a service between Southport and Surfers from time to time, it does happen), but he has extrapolated that into every single bus on the road.

Personal anecdotes make for bad arguments.

[SurfRail]

If he is claiming 10,000 for the Gold Coast Light Rail then he's either a fool or a liar. That would represent a huge drop in patronage compared to the current bus service, which is a most unlikely outcome!

I've pointed out as much to them and they haven't responded.  One of their supporters pointed out that it makes it slightly less lossy but that it will still make a loss.  People like that can't conceive of benefits unless they are black and white in dollar value (despite the very clear benefits and the patent dollar value of those benefits to the city at large, just that you can't easily reduce it to a single bottomline because it is actually numerous bottomlines).

[colinw]

^ Yes.  He might have done (I've been the only person on board a service between Southport and Surfers from time to time, it does happen), but he has extrapolated that into every single bus on the road.

Personal anecdotes make for bad arguments.

Indeed.

On more than one occasion, I have been the only passenger on my local bus route.

But this morning it was standing room only.

Neither is representative of average loading for the route.

[somebody]

I feel sure that I've been the only passenger on 29,66,88,100,109,120,444 routes too at some point.

[HappyTrainGuy]

I've been on a host of bus routes by myself. I've been one of two passengers on a daytime outbound 330 buz between RBWH-Chermside as it overtook a cramped no standing room full to the brim 340 buz in a tunnel That was an experience to say the most... until that very same overcrowded stopping 340 caught up again as we were waiting for the lights at Chermside. Even made it through the same damn light cycle into the interchange 

[WTN]

I've been on a host of bus routes by myself.

You're not alone. I've seen a 209 near empty, 217 near empty, and a 222 standing room only. Then 130/140 overloaded to the max while 135 has only a handful of people.

Even the Gold Coast theme park buses can range from near empty to standing room only. So saying every bus only has 3 people on it doesn't make sense.

[Jonno]

What exactly do those who oppose the GC LRT and other bus or light rail proposals/project actually believe is the alternative.  Surely the cannot believe that spending more on road capacity is somehow going to deliver anything but more congestion. 

Why do people still believe that the last 40 years of road building has not a failed.

[SurfRail]

What exactly do those who oppose the GC LRT and other bus or light rail proposals/project actually believe is the alternative.  Surely the cannot believe that spending more on road capacity is somehow going to deliver anything but more congestion. 

Why do people still believe that the last 40 years of road building has not a failed.

They believe in a combination of various fantasies:
- More buses with no priority treatment
- Bus rapid transit which is apparently 40% of the cost according to them (just like the Northern and Eastern Busways...)
- Flexible or on-demand routes
- Massive park and rides
- No public transport whatsoever

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Light Rail

--> http://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/sitePage.cfm?code=light-rail-project

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Sunshine Coast light rail feasible: report

The Sunshine Coast needs to grow a "spine", according to its mayor.

Mark Jamieson has released the Sunshine Coast Regional Council's feasibility study into a light rail system, calling it the best option for building a public transport backbone for the region.

Construction would take 15 to 20 years, during which time the population of the Sunshine Coast is expected to grow by 50 per cent.

"For us to maintain the great charm and lifestyle benefits of the Sunshine Coast we need to have a really effective public transport system," Cr Jamieson said.

"The alternative is just continuing to acquire property and widen roads, and that's just not a solution that fits well with the region we want to be."

Cr Jamieson said the most common form of transport was private vehicle because long or insufficiently serviced public transport routes put many people off using the region's local buses.

He said the feasibility study involved looking at rapid transit systems in Kobe, Shanghai, Portland and San Francisco, as well as Melbourne and the Gold Coast.

"It really is a very efficient and effective way of moving a lot of people around at the one time with a very reliable and regular service so that we create a really effective transportation spine for the Sunshine Coast," he said.

"We would want a system in the future that would be very reliable, very cost effective, and give people confidence to get out of their cars."

Cr Jamieson estimated the first two stages would cost $2 billion, and would see about 23 kilometres of track link Maroochydore's new CBD to the Kawana health precinct, then on to Caloundra.

"Then there's another leg from Maroochydore to the airport, and into the future...it could include legs to the university and other parts of the Sunshine Coast," he said.

He said an advantage the Sunshine Coast had over the Gold Coast was it had large corridors of land still available for use.

"We are in a fairly fortunate position where we can achieve that, and that obviously means that it's less expensive than going back and having to retrofit everything," he said.

Cr Jamieson said a list of possible routes would be put out for public consultation at the end of the month, and he called on residents to have their say.

"This is an opportunity for our community to see the future, play a role in determining that future, but also make sure their state government representatives understand that this is what they see as a very viable option," he said.

"Then of course we'd get down to the nitty gritty of how it's to be funded."

Cr Jamieson said the council and the federal government would need to contribute, but ultimately the state government would pay the bulk of the $2 billion.

"This needs to be seen as a great economic driver as well," he said.

"The density that builds up around the nodes, or the light rail stations, is quite significant."

He said the Sunshine Coast was already seeing a trend towards higher-density apartment blocks closer to major facilities, meaning a light rail system would be in the interest of companies including residential and retail developers.

Cr Jamieson said frequent bus services from the light rail stations to suburban destinations would be part of the overall transport plan.

Rail Back on Track spokesman Jeff Addison said the plan would be a boost for the region.

"Light rail has been a boon on the Gold Coast, it's been very well patronised, and I think it would be the same for the Sunshine Coast," he said.

Mr Addison said in the future the system could be linked to heavy rail in places like Beerwah and Cooroy, creating a full circle service.

For more information on the proposed Sunshine Coast light rail system, visit the council website.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Sunshine Coast - SCC ‏@CouncilSCC

How much do you know about #lightrail? See how it could shape the #SunshineCoast: http://buff.ly/1s9lJ7y  #sclightrail

[#Metro]

Sunshine Coast Council could sell Sunshine Coast Airport (potential buyer Queensland Airports Limited) and turn the funds from that into an investment fund to pay for future light rail. Any unused transport levy can also go into there as well. It takes about 10 years or more to go from drawings to actual trams on the ground, lots of time to save up the money.

[dancingmongoose]

I'm not sure the Sunshine Coast needs light rail, just because it works for the GC doesn't mean it will be just as good elsewhere. Especially when you consider it's pretty much the CAMCOS corridor that they are looking at.

[Fares_Fair]

The Sunshine Coast Light Rail study released this week shows a future heavy rail link from Beerwah to Maroochydore.

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily --> Should Sunshine Coast boost buses or hail rail?

Video --> http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/videos/proposed-light-rail-link/24512/

A TOURISM chief, a public transport campaigner and a university deputy vice-chancellor have all welcomed a future light rail network.

But a Coast retiree believes a simpler fix exists.

A feasibility study into the light rail network, predicted to cost a minimum of $90 million a kilometre to build, was released on Wednesday by Sunshine Coast Council.

Sunshine Coast Destination CEO Simon Ambrose said he believed the proposed network offered an opportunity to "free up" the Coast to visitors and locals.

"I certainly think that any opportunity to engage our visitors with different areas of the Coast and to disperse them to different areas of the Coast is a really positive one," Mr Ambrose said.

"It (light rail) can be really important for dispersal."

Rail Back on Track Sunshine Coast spokesman Jeff Addison was supportive of the plans for light rail and hoped it, combined with a duplication of the heavy rail line from Brisbane to Nambour, would solve travel headaches for Coast residents.

"The Sunshine Coast does need public transport and a light rail network," Mr Addison said.

"The cost of building the light rail is offset by the cost that would come with providing extra lanes (on major Coast roads)."

Buderim retiree Graham Bailey said he was apprehensive about the Coast committing to such an expensive public transport project when the system was already struggling to provide an adequate service.

"It's an awful lot of money," Mr Bailey said.

"You've got to get buses going (more effectively). My answer is no: forget the light rail and get the buses going again.

"Definitely (upgrade the bus services first) because you're still going to need a service in the future to get to the tram or the light rail (from suburbs inland from the proposed light rail)."

Mr Bailey would rather see an upgrade to heavy rail services to the Sunshine Coast before a light rail network was introduced, especially as he felt the light rail would not benefit large numbers of Coast residents away from the proposed coastal line.

"It's not going to benefit us in any way.

"Where we are, we don't even have a direct bus service to Mooloolaba."

University of the Sunshine Coast Deputy Vice-Chancellor Birgit Lohmann said a light-rail network servicing the university could help attract students from further south to the Coast to study.

"Potentially, yes, because we're now seeing a lot more students joining the university from North Brisbane," Prof Lohmann said.

"We should explore these options with vigour."

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily 17th October 2014 page 9

Gold Coast plan based on density

[ozbob]

Twitter

Christopher Rhodes ‏@rhodeschris06 37m

#SunshineCoast Mayor @JamiesonMark will reveal Council's light-rail proposal in #Nambour on Monday. #SCNews

[Arnz]

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/cheaper-plan-for-light-rail-ignored/2439257/?ref=hs

THE State Treasurer's department has confirmed it is not considering a touted third-of-the-cost alternative to the Sunshine Coast Council-endorsed $2 billion light rail network.

American Maglev Technology Inc has approached the state government about a proposal to construct a private sector-funded, elevated rail network for an estimated $600 million.

AMT's representative in Australia, Dick Rowe, spoke of his frustration at being unable to further discuss the AMT proposal with relevant stakeholders, for a system he said would cost the state government only operating costs after construction.

A spokesman for Treasurer Tim Nicholls said the AMT proposal was not on the radar.

"We are not currently considering a Maglev rail option for Sunshine Coast's public transport system," the spokesman said.

To be honest that proposal was doomed considering the vague details, and would be taken not very seriously on other forums, where the guys at OzScrapers would brand the proposal as the "Maglev Bus to Maroochydore".

[Stillwater]

Light rail, should it come to the Sunshine Coast, unlikely to extend north of the Sunshine Coast airport, due to low population densities -- unless Uncle Clive or another developer part funds to Coolum resort.  Very unlikely.

[ozbob]

Twitter

David Marler ‏@Qldaah

#qldpol Proposal for a light rail system along the Sunshine Coast.

[dancingmongoose]

So it's CAMCOS on a different gauge?

[Stillwater]

On a different alignment to CAMCOS.  CAMCOS heavy rail alignment preserved via Kawana to the new Maroochydore Town Centre, now under construction.

[bcasey]

Forgive my ignorance of this particular region and this light rail plan, but what is with the big loops and branches at each of the town centres?

Wouldn't it be better to have a single line like the GC going up and down the coast between these centres, and then branch off from it with buses?

Otherwise you either end up reducing the frequency along each of the branches (where you really want to have a high frequency since that is where the majority of people are), having an indirect route with the tram diverting into each of these loops (which negates the main purpose of installing light rail in the first place, directness and speed), or have to run a separate tram around the loops and meeting up with the main line, etc. This is public transport planning 101.

[SurfRail]

It looks to me like those are options for assessment as to which should be picked.

The original PB study for the Gold Coast had similar options - for instance:

- I can't remember the other Southport option, but one turned down Short Street and ran out the front along or parallel to Marine Pde
- One of the Broadbeach options travelled along Surf Parade rather than the GC Hwy

The Kawana area was always treated as a parallel route or diversion in the Coast Connect material so not sure if this would hold true there.