The Opposition has doubled down on its promise to deliver a rail line to the heart of the Sunshine Coast by the 2032 Games, but the state government says that’s impossible and is committed to building it in stages.
The proposed 37.8km dual track Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line could go from Beerwah, through Caloundra and Kawana to Maroochydore.
It could cut travel time between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane and it could take the strain off local roads amid a booming population.
The project looms as a key topic for Sunshine Coast voters ahead of the state election on October 26.
A detailed business case summary, released in January, showed it would cost $12 billion and there were construction complexities, prompting the state government to focus on building the line to Caloundra first.
But the LNP has emphasised that it will deliver the line “all the way to Maroochydore by 2032 if elected this month”.
The Sunshine Coast will host several events during the Games.
LNP representatives Jarrod Bleijie, Fiona Simpson and Kendall Morton reiterated the party’s stance in front of media at the Maroochydore city centre on Wednesday.
“We will not stand by and watch Caloundra become a car park while the rest of the Sunshine Coast gets shortchanged,” Mr Bleijie said.
“We are determined to make sure that (the line) goes all the way to Maroochydore and delivers a generational infrastructure legacy for the Coast,” Ms Simpson said.
“The Sunshine Coast is one of the fastest-growing regions in the state and is forecast to be home to 600,000 people by 2046 but, under Labor, nothing has been done to plan the infrastructure and services we will need,” Ms Morton said.
“Not only will the LNP deliver this rail project, but we will also deliver the Caloundra Traffic Corridor Upgrade, with $400 million of congestion-busting projects to ease Caloundra Road.”
But the LNP did not state how the rail line would be built to Maroochydore by 2032 or how it would be paid for.
The state government maintained that it would be impossible to complete the whole project during the next eight years.
The Minister for Transport and Main Roads Bart Mellish stressed that to Sunshine Coast News.
“The business case makes it clear the entire line to Maroochydore can’t be built by 2032,” he said.
“A construction program was developed with input from expert industry advisers.
“Even when staged or built concurrently, this program demonstrated that construction of the dual-track rail line to Maroochydore would not be feasible prior to 2032.
“This program assumed that pre-delivery work would commence immediately following business case completion, and that multiple construction sites could be underway along the length of the project from 2026 onwards.
“Delivery of rail between Beerwah and Maroochydore is anticipated to take a decade or more, even when working across multiple work fronts at the same time.
“Without staging, no sections of the rail corridor would be able to be operationalised before this time.
“The LNP need to explain to Queenslanders how they will deliver this project in full by 2032.
“Even Peter Dutton has refused to fund the rest of the project.
“This leaves the Queensland LNP with at least a $6.6 billion black hole for this project alone.”
The state and federal government have allocated a combined $5.5 billion towards Stage 1 of the project, to be completed by 2032.
Stage 1 includes: delivering 19km of dual-track rail line to Caloundra; pre-delivery work and a commitment to working with industry to explore opportunities to accelerate delivery of the rail line to Birtinya; protecting the updated rail corridor to Maroochydore; an enhanced bus network to connect to stations; and active travel options for people to walk or ride to stations.
It’s unclear when the line could be built to Birtinya or Maroochydore.
Work on Stage 1 is set to get underway in 2026.
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