Probably worth a separate thread but the (very) long story short is there was a massive fear campaign from a certain anti development group that developing an LRT system along the coastal corridor would ruin the area by creating an ‘eyesore’, as well as taking up ‘valuable’ vehicle lanes and most importantly, allowing developers to build high rises along the beach.
The group was backed by members of the blue team (one who happens to be our current deputy premier) at both a state and federal level, and in light of very vocal support of the group from those living in beachfront units as well as political support, council were pressured into dropping LRT and replacing it with BRT.
Of course, this same anti LRT group after claiming victory immediately began attacking the BRT concept as well, saying that BRT isn’t really needed either and we just need more normal buses, but I think with traffic getting dramatically worse pretty much by the week they’ve sort of calmed down a bit about that. They’re not just against LRT either, they also successfully got an active transport corridor through Alexandra Headlands cancelled because it would ‘ruin beach access’ and take away street parking. They’re anti-everything.
It’s very closely aligned with the same mob who are currently protesting GCLR, but the difference is on the Gold Coast nobody listens to them.
BRT will be a fine option for SCMT, the technology has evolved a lot in the past decade and while I used to be against it, having been able to use similar BRT systems overseas as well as Brisbane Metro, I do see the flexibility that BRT offers. Ideally I would love to see the BRT system properly built in a manner that allows eventual conversion to battery LRT.
Oh well everyone to their own. From a marketing perspective it’s great similar to the Glider brand. The could have called it “intercity” but they need something catchy to entice people to try it out.
Plus I think TMR want to move away from the QR brand as it has too many bad associations such as delays,
cancellation, work ethic,service delivery, etc…
I don’t mind the wave brand personally, the Gold Coast has “The G:”, Brisbane has “The Metro” so I think “The Wave” is fitting. The idea of each region having their own unique branding for the intra-urban transit system is a cool idea too, especially when there’ll be a lot of people coming to SEQ for the Olympics. I work in marketing so perhaps a cool coastal brand just stands out to me though
I do think however that labelling the rail portion of the network as “The Wave” is a mistake. The naming convention should remain as the Sunshine Coast line up to where the rail line terminates and then the whole of region mass transit system should be branded as “The Wave” to separate it. I actually still don’t know if it’s entirely clear whether they intend to rebrand the Sunshine Coast line as “The Wave” - they shared an image of branding on a QR unit however since trains are used across the entire network I cannot see that working in any way. It should just be the BRT vehicles that are branded… right?
You’d expect outrage from a lot of the voters in the LNP held regions if they pulled off the Airtrain 2.0 PPP Privatisation tactic with both the Rail and Metro-Busway component of The Wave project.
An Airtrain-style Privatisation surcharge where the fares are $15 to travel locally on the Metro-bus or the local rail component will not be received well and will largely be a white elephant, also leading to losses for the private provider that put their money into building said infrastructure.
Saying all that, I’d expect the bus component to be tendered out regardless. Kinetic Queensland (a large private operator half-owned by a Canadian PE firm) already operates most of the regional urban bus services in Queensland including the GC and SC, and I’d expect them to bid for the Metro-bus component when it comes to tender.
Well, the official fare policy is 50c fares. So this rules out a $15 charge.
Outside of BCC, all SEQ bus operators are private. They still charge 50c fares.
The Gold Coast light rail is already privately owned an operated, as is Cross River Rail, Brisbane CityCat ferries (operations), and maintenance for NGR trains.
Let’s bring the discussion back to the corridor, as the chance of a non-Translink fare is very low.
Here it seems that the GC LRT owners are mostly private equity funds.
Even if the wave was delivered together with a private operator under a PPP, it would be under contract with the Queensland Government and subject to Translink fares.
I’m not overly concerned about an airtrain style situation on ‘The Wave’ (only because I think that would be political suicide) however considering the industry involvement with the planning, procurement and development of the wave I could definitely see it operating as a similar PPP arrangement just like on the Gold Coast, where the state own the infrastructure (land, tracks/busway, depots) and private operators oversee design, construction, operation and maintenance.
It will certainly be interesting to see what Kinetic do. They are snapping up smaller operators in QLD left right and centre, and they also have existing depots & offices at both Caloundra and right next to Sunshine Coast airport.
One of the factors that will play a big part in the tender process is the integration between the BRT/Rail network and a revamped bus network on the Sunshine Coast (which Kinetic operate). Kinetic already have a lot of staff on the Sunshine Coast, it seems like a no brainer that they will bid for it either on their own or as part of a consortium.
So this is interesting. If the private partner is just an operator, that is low risk. However, if BRT infrastructure construction on the rail corridor is also packaged in with that then it raises questions.
For example, if the BRT infrastructure or corridor component on the rail corridor is private, then there would be a term that the operator and the state would have to agree to. For Gold Coast Light Rail it is July 2029 (15 years). The implication here is that under this scenario, there would be a period where the bus option would have to be run down (e.g. 15 years) before rail could proceed beyond Birtinya to Maroochydore.
A key question is therefore is the BRT on the corridor PPP and if so, is there a minimum term?
Scrap the Caloundra rail part entirely. Divert the rail segment from Aura along Bells Creek Arterial Road to Bitinya.
Scrap the MRI and just build it as a rail overpass.
Drop the Mountain Creek station.
Add a new rail station at Bells Creek (roughly near Pierce Avenue).
Add a new rail station at Buderim (at the car lot at Wises Road at the roundabout).
Drop the elevated hook-turn and terminus station at Maroochydore.
Continue the line along the freeway until the Sunshine Coast Airport.
Add a new station at West Maroochydore (roughly near Main Street).
Add a new station at The Sunshine Coast Airport (Airport Drive).
Use the SCMT southern corridor to build a BRT route from Birtiyna to Caloundra.
Extend the SCMT northern corridor to Buderim station and build a second BRT route from Buderim to Birtinya.
Post 2032, extend the rail service to Noosa, via Peregian Springs and Coolum.
Note:
This line once built it will never be quad-tracked - one service for one pair of tracks.
Terminating the service in the middle of an undeveloped part of Maroochydore never made sense.
TMR and relevant ministers should take a field trip to Perth and catch the Yanchep Line to understand how this proposal works. Model this line after theirs.
Hire Perth Metronet as expert advisors on the project.
Estimate $5.5 billion and completed by mid 2029 (the money was already allocated to DSCL last year).
This solution is not mode-neutral; two modes have been identified as best for the intended purposes, and the outcome is a much better outcome then what we have or do not have today. The government is in no state to be going to tenders on anything yet, there’s is always time for reviews and changes.
As for Caloundra and Maroochydore not getting direct rail stations. They are a casualty of CAMCOS and what 30 years of delay and regional growth does to old plans. It is also because of bullshit economic reasons that they choose the route originally. The BRT will offer greater connection to both Caloundra & Maroochydore than rail could and should. We don’t assess public transport projects solely by economic outcomes. The line is not intended to be for just the Olympics but an extension of the existing SEQ rail network.
‘The Wave’ funding as of 2025-26 budget:
DSCL (Beerwah to Caloundra) - $5.5 billion
DSCL (Caloundra to Birtinya) - $0
BRT (???) - $0
MRI - $0
How the Government interprets ‘The Wave’ funding 2025-26:
DSCL + BRT + MRI = $5.5 billion
The TMR North Coast regional director (who hosted the wave industry briefing) has resigned and taken up an executive position at Sunshine Coast Council, overseeing infrastructure and assets, as announced this morning by Sunshine Coast News.
Hopefully it’s a positive thing in the long run for collaboration between local and state government but it does come at an interesting time…
Great point from Alex re: the difference in mode capacity. Who on Earth decided run both services at the same frequency when the max capacity of the metro vehicles is about the same as one carriage of a six-car train
