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

http://sourceable.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Image-of-proposed-Newcastle-light-rail-route.png

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.”

How Much Would It Cost Nowadays To Build A Tram System Like Melbourne’s?

December 31st, 2014 by James Ayre from http://cleantechnica.com

Melbourne, Australia, is home to what is by far the largest streetcar system currently in operation in the world — one that makes those found in the US cities where there is one at all seem like a fair ride in comparison. The urban streetcar system comprises roughly 249 kilometres of double-track and 487 trams in total.

You’re probably getting jealous now, and for good reason. So a good question to ask would be, why doesn’t the city I live in have such great public transportation infrastructure? And how much would it cost for it to develop a similar system?

Now an important point to make from the start on this topic is that Melbourne’s system has been in place for quite a long time now — such systems were actually very common throughout much of the world in the early parts of the 20th century. Had the system been removed back in the 1950s-60s like the systems in many other major Australian cities were, the costs for building it would likely now be unaffordable.

Going by the $1.6 billion that it cost to build the relatively new 13 km Gold Coast G link line, Melbourne’s system — were it to be developed today — would probably cost somewhere around $30 billion. Going by other recent light rail projects, it could be even higher, up to $45 billion.

Big numbers. So, why would it be so much more expensive nowadays?

One of the main reasons is that new systems almost invariably are kept separate from now ubiquitous car traffic — something that wasn’t always necessary.

The Urbanist provides some relevant thoughts on that matter:

However if Melbourne were building a new system today from the ground up it would face the same sorts of pressures to provide a much better and more costly network (eg with more segregation from traffic) that other cities are experiencing. Decisions made many years ago simply wouldn’t be politically viable in today’s car-oriented world. 

A brand new 250 km network would have the advantage though of offering an opportunity to obtain substantial economies of scale. However whether that opportunity was realized would depend on the sequence of construction; Melbourne’s network was built incrementally over the course of a century.

There’s no guarantee, or even likelihood, that any new network of similar size would be constructed in accordance with the most efficient schedule. No matter what they might say, politicians don’t think or act like that.

All good points. It’s also worth noting that the level of bureaucracy and intermediation (and accompanying graft) has increased pretty significantly in the years since the Melbourne network’s creation. There’s a lot of red tape to go through in the modern world, and a lot of people with their hands in the pie. It no doubt isn’t as simple to get things like the tram network done nowadays as it was back then.

The main takeaway from this all, though, is that maintaining and/or rebuilding or renovating legacy infrastructure is usually the most economical approach to public transportation infrastructure buildout… by far.

It’s just too bad that so many of these quite effective tram systems (which once covered the US) were done away with during the wild embrace of the personal automobile during the last century.

Image Credit: LHS; RHS

Sydney: Commuters set to vote on new-look Sydney trams

• JIM O’ROURKE TRANSPORT REPORTER. THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
• DECEMBER 28, 2014 12:00AM

WILL it be the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House or perhaps the face of Luna Park?

The trams in Reims, France. 

Commuters could be given a vote on the look of Sydney’s new trams so they reflect the character, heritage or personality of the city.

French transport giant Alstom, which is supplying the trams for the CBD to South East light rail, scheduled to begin operation in early 2019, gives its customer cities the option of customising the “nose” or front of their trams.

In the French city of Reims, for example, local authorities gave their citizens the opportunity to vote on the design of the driver’s cab.

Tramway Montpellier. Montpellier, where a diving mask was used.

A tram in Dubai, where a diamond shape was chosen.

About 15 per cent of the residents of the city, famous for its fine champagne, turned out to vote in a community referendum and chose a depiction of a champagne flute.

In oil rich Dubai, a cut diamond shape was chosen to reflect the wealth of the Emirate.

A diving mask was used in Montpellier, a prime scuba diving centre on France’s Mediterranean coast, and Lyons has trams that look like silk worms, a link to the city’s historic manufacture of the luxury material.

In Toulouse, the headquarters of Airbus, the trams are designed to look like the front of a passenger jet.

The state government hasn’t ruled out letting Sydneysiders vote on the design of their own trams.

A tram in Toulouse.

Alstom’s Christian Messelyn, who headed the Reims tram project, said the vote was conducted on the internet on the tram nose design over a week.

“It was like a small election and was very well received,” Mr Messelyn said.

“About 40,000 people then turned out for the line’s opening ceremony.”

Will Sydney have trams trundling along George Street with a nose shaped a funnel web spider or a giant black arrow, similar to those sewn into the uniforms convicts used to wear?

When asked if she is considering offering Sydney residents an opportunity to have a say in the design of the tram, Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian was non committal.

“Customers will be using brand new modern and clean light rail vehicles as part of this exciting project,” she said.

“Of course the new vehicles will reflect local needs here in Sydney.”