Australia. Queensland election 2015: Government pledges to extend Gold Coast light rail if re-elected

By Charmaine Kane. Thanks to ABC.

Thu 29 Jan 2015, 12:52pm

PHOTO: The LNP pledges to extend the Gold Coast light rail line to Helensvale if it is returned to government. (ABC Gold Coast: Damien Larkins)

The Queensland Government has promised to extend the Gold Coast light rail line to Helensvale if it is re-elected on Saturday.

The Assistant Planning Minister and Member for Southport, Rob Molhoek, said it was an ironclad commitment but the work may not be completed before the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

He said it was imperative the light and heavy rail services were linked.

"We're actually putting our cards on the table and we are absolutely committing to deliver this extension of the light rail and the connection to Brisbane and the beach if re-elected," he said.

"There's no ifs, buts and maybes about this, this is a commitment from the LNP to deliver that stage and we understand how important it is to the people of the Gold Coast."

Mr Molhoek said the fact that work may not be completed by 2018 would not jeopardise the success of the Games.

"They'll be taken on express coaches predominantly under escort or in priority transport lanes anyway to the various venues," he said.

"There are very few venues actually within the light rail corridor itself.

"Certainly it would be great to have and I'll be in there fighting for that but I don't think it's going to make a lot of difference to our ability to deliver a great outcome and a successful Games."

Tourism and Transport Forum says coordinated light-heavy rail system crucial

A national lobby group, the Tourism and Transport Forum, has urged Labor to match the commitment.

CEO Margy Osmond said a coordinated light and heavy rail system was crucial to the Gold Coast's future.

"It's connection with Brisbane and some of the cultural opportunities in Brisbane just adds to the potential of it," she said.

"We will see more and more business events and major international conferences come to the Gold Coast off the back of the Commonwealth Games.

"We need people to see Australia is a great place to visit and the Gold Coast is a terrific example of it and part of that is a great public transport system."

Ms Osmond agreed with Mr Molhoek's Games comments.

"We certainly think it would be useful in terms of the Commonwealth Games but really this is about giving the impression of an accessible and legible public transport system to visitors and to locals," she said.

"Remember there is a serious daytrip marketplace that could be galvanised by having this extension in place as quickly as possible."

Auckland, New Zealand Considering A Return To Trams: Source: TVONE News

Trams prove to be a welcome comeback for Auckland

Published: 9:59AM Friday January 23, 2015 Source: ONE News

The idea of light rail being introduced in Auckland has been mostly welcomed by ONE News readers.

"I think light rail would work well in Auckland. So many other cities have it and it works brilliantly. Much less cost than full heavy rail, and can go around tighter corners and up steeper grades," Hannah Rummery commented on the ONE News Facebook page today.

Transport officials say that exploring the introduction of light rail or trams could be the solution to Auckland's traffic congestion.

Emma Groom's comment mirrored many others, when she said that "trams should never have been disbanded".

Auckland Transport chairperson Lester Levy believes that the time has come for trams to make a comeback in Auckland.

"You would need tracks down the road, but it is new technology, very sleek and moves many more people than you could by bus," he told ONE News.

The trams have been earmarked for six congested roads - Dominion Road, Symonds St, Queen St, Sandringham Road, Manukau Road and Mount Eden Road.

With similar technology introduced in Sydney, Melbourne, Edinburgh and Dublin, Auckland could be next. Auckland Transport thinks it could be built for under a billion dollars.

Transport Blog Analyst Matt Lowrie says trams in Auckland would be useful.

"But with modern light rail it's actually a very useful catalyst to move a lot of people, it can be a very, very useful mode of transport."

Auckland Mayor Len Brown warns people not to get too excited by the prospect because his to-do list is very long as it is.

"That project would have to weigh up like all the other projects against whether or not we'd be doing electric rail out to Pukekohe, busways further up to the north, busway on the Northwest, park and rides."

A report to the council is expected within five months, possibly exploring a private public partnership.

Stockport UK. Plans revealed to use special 'tram-train' to connect Stockport to Manchester Metrolink system

• Jan 22, 2015 07:34
• By Charlotte Cox

The ‘tram train’ technology - which allows adapted trams to use existing heavy rail lines - would allow the route to run along the Stockport-Altrincham-Chester line for much of the distance

Sean Hansford

Plans to connect Stockport to the Metrolink network with a special ‘tram train’ system have been revealed.

Proposals are on the table to create an orbital route running from Reddish through the Heatons into Stockport and then out through Edgeley, Cheadle Heath, Cheadle, Gatley and Baguley.

The ‘tram train’ technology - which allows adapted trams to use existing heavy rail lines - would allow the route to run along the Stockport-Altrincham-Chester line for much of the distance.

Tram train possibilities have been discussed previously by TfGM - and a £60m pilot using one of flexible vehicles is due to take place in Sheffield.

Its supporters say its use in Greater Manchester would reduce cost and inconvenience by minimising the amount of new track that has to be laid.

Cheadle MP Mark Hunter said: “These proposals, backed by Stockport council and TfGM, are a major step forward and there’s now a real opportunity to have trams running on the new line in a decade or less. We have a solid economic case, but there is still a lot of work to do. We have to show that this has strong community support and a good business case if we’re going to get the funding to get this on the ground.”

The proposals come in a rail study for Stockport, published jointly by Stockport council and Transport for Greater Manchester.

It was initiated last year by Councillor Iain Roberts and, in addition to a new orbital tram route from Reddish through Cheadle and Gatley to Manchester Airport, also proposes introducing a tram service on the Marple-Manchester line, extending the East Didsbury Metrolink line into Stockport and through to Hazel Grove, and improving rail stations - especially Stockport Station.

It also deals with the challenges HS2 will bring - with a proposal to connect the West Coast Mainline with high speed rail to ensure Stockport remains a key hub.

Coun Roberts, deputy leader of Stockport council, said: “Stockport already has strong transport links and by improving what we currently have and further developing the rail network we can take a logical step forward in improving connectivity across the south of Manchester and beyond.”

Coun Andrew Fender, chairman of the TfGM Committee, said: “At this point, tram-train is one of the longer term projects for Greater Manchester and it is something we will continue to support as strongly as we can.

“Since we agreed an initial strategy at the end of 2013, a lot of detailed work has been undertaken to ensure that, as and when the opportunity arises in terms of both funding and powers, we can realise the benefits of tram-train as soon as possible.

“This very useful report from Stockport council will feed into our future plans and inform our ongoing engagement with Rail North.”

For more information on the Stockport Rail Strategy, visit www.stockport.gov.uk/railstrategy

Newcastle, Australia: New Light Rail Line Proposed to Replaced Closed Heavy Rail Line Into City Centre

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Queensland, Australia Election: Promises of Gold Coast light rail second stage

Warren Truss says he hasn’t be asked for funding for Gold Coast light rail second stage

• KATHLEEN SKENE KATHLEEN.SKENE@NEWS.COM.AU
• GOLD COAST BULLETIN
• JANUARY 13, 2015 7:28AM

THE Queensland Government has not even approached their Federal Government counterparts for help with stage two of the light rail, Acting Prime Minister Warren Truss revealed yesterday.

“That’s — that hasn’t been put to us actually, not officially,” he said. “Well not really even unofficially because it’s not generally the kind of thing we’ve been funding.

“But we’ve certainly got a very busy road and rail program that we will be funding.”

Asked if he’d completely rule out Federal funding of the extension, Mr Truss said “we haven’t been approached”.

Despite having the support of Premier Campbell Newman, Transport Minister Scott Emerson, most local LNP MPs and Gold Coasters, the vital transport is yet to receive the official green light from the Government.

It is understood it will take two and a half years to build and test the extension before it can take passengers, meaning it has to start by March to be ready before the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Plans for a second-stage connection to the heavy rail station at Helensvale have been under way for months, and Queensland Transport has last year awarded a contract worth $1,392,733 for ‘engineering and technical advisory services” for the Gold Coast Light Rail Stage Two.

However, Treasurer Tim Nicholls, on the Coast to announce the exit 54 upgrade, said more planning was needed before the plan would be funded.

“We’ve always been supportive of the consideration of the light rail and the extension of the light rail but we have always said we’ll do that in a very planned and methodical way,” he said.

“We want to make sure that we get the best outcome in a value-for-money sense for Queenslanders.

“We know that the first proposal put together by the Labor Government got its numbers quite substantially wrong and Queenslanders have had to pick an extra $65 million a year in order to meet that.”

Mr Nicholls was reluctant to give any pre-2018 pledge on how long that methodical planning would take.

“We’ll look at the business case,” he said..

“Rushed projects are always the projects that cost more — like this one at exit 54, we’ve worked very carefully with the town centre developers, we’ve worked with our colleagues at a federal level to make sure we get the best outcome and we’ll be doing the same throughout Queensland.”