Based off the proposed alignment, the estimated travel time from Roma Street to Caloundra to be 1 hour and 20 minutes, assuming the speed is 140km/h, and a maximum theoretical speed of 160km/h.
For the DSCL to be feasible the travel time must be quicker than by car making it an express service to Beerwah from Roma Street and vice-versa. Which line will it be paired with and will it use the CRR tunnel?
10km of the line from the Bruce Highway to Kawana Way is to be elevated because of natural obstacles such as wetlands and reserves, with a 1km âshortâ tunnel is also proposed under Sugar Bag Rd. Both the Caloundra and Aroona stations are planned to be elevated stations.
The section in between Parrearra and Mountain Creek has to cross over Mooloolah River to the Sunshine Motorway, so another 2.6km of elevated rail before running parallel to the motorway.
The Maroochydore station is the terminus station so any extension to the Sunshine Coast Airport cannot happen as it is not aligned to the Sunshine Motorway. The question is do you want to expand the line to Sunshine Coast Airport and beyond?
The Caloundra to Aroona section is one huge engineering, planning and environmental problem and it is because of this section the DSCL is not feasible to proceed for the following reasons:
- Nobody should build rail through or above protected wetlands and bushlands/reserves. They are protected for a reason.
- Is it not transport planning practice to minimise using tunnels and bridges/overpasses where possible. This is the complete opposite mentality.
- The CAMCOS proposal done thirty years is outdated and was a product of that time. It doesnât carry over well today as that area has changed since.
- When was the last time Queensland built an elevated rail station?
- Elevated stations are expensive. Two of them even more so.
- Having 10km of elevated rail.
- Having tunnelled and elevated rail components together.
- That itâs acceptable to build new elevated rail through and over environmental sensitive areas but impossible to build elevated rail and stations to remove level crossings from Brisbane.
- There are no Olympic venues at either Caloundra or Aroona.
- There are no schools, shopping Centres, or large venue attractors at either Caloundra or Aroona.
- The Caloundra Airport is less like the Sunshine Coast Airport, and more like Archerfield.
- The need/demand of having a train station at Caloundra at all.
- The thinking that heavy rail needs to be in the middle of most of Caloundra/Aroona or âeverythingâ to be feasible.
- It is the wrong transport mode for the area.
- That the train line fails to encourage rail usage over driving?
Predictions & Recommendations for DSCL:
Regardless of whatever BCA is given to the DSCL in the future, right now, the score would not be great. The planners chose that corridor with those obstacles and in doing so have burdened themselves with the engineering challenges they face, guaranteeing that significant time and resources will be dedicated to the Caloundra to Aroona section, running the risk that the DSCL may not be built by 2032. Having a re-run of the CRR â The Cleveland Solution â The BaT tunnel â CRR planning shit-show that occurred from the last three State Governments must not be repeated, otherwise no DSCL.
With all of the issues of the Caloundra to Aroona identified, the Caloundra to Aroona section should be bypassed completely and an alternate alignment looked at. There are other minor changes that would improve the feasibility and enhance the attractiveness of the line. The new proposal would be as follows:
*Beerwah to Aura remains unchanged.
*From Aura it flows into Bells Creek Arterial Rd with new stations at Baringa and Little Mountain before connecting to Kawana Way Link Rd following the existing alignment to Birtinya.
*Before Parrearra, there existing Mooloolah River crossing should be tunnelled instead of an overpass which continues along Kawana Way; with the option of adding a station at Buderim.
*The Maroochydore station will be located along the motorway near Main Street before continuing along the Sunshine Motorway to terminate at the Sunshine Coast Airport along North Shore Connection Rd to Airport Dr with the station outside the terminal.
The concept of running a train line through a freeway/motorway is based off the Yanchep Line in Perth. The rail corridor is confined to the motorway with stations built in the centre/median.
From [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanchep_line[/url]
Using the freeway allows for the ability to expand the line north as far as Noosa, via Coolum, and Peregian Springs, though not a requirement until post-2032.
If the above changes were considered, then the DSCL would be built and operational by 2032. The fight over if it can reach the Sunshine Coat Airport is resolved as it will be included requiring no elevated stations or overpasses which reduces project costs and build time, however a single tunnel segment is unavoidable.
If we were to duplicate how the Yanchep Line functions then each station will have its own parkânâride facilities as well access to bus transfer stations. The low density nature of the Sunshine Coast allows buses to play a better role in both transfer and end-to-end trips around each station and the surrounding suburbs.
The only thing standing in the way of this proposal is TMR/QR having zero experience with freeway-based rail operations and construction unlike Transperth/PTA.
