The final stage of the Gold Coast’s light rail line could eclipse the cost of Queensland’s largest infrastructure project, says Transport Minister Bart Mellish.
He says the preliminary evaluation of Stage Four — a 13-kilometre tram track to Coolangatta — could range between $3.1 billion and $7.6 billion.
“This is really getting up there in terms of the dollar figure,” Mr Mellish said.
The upper range of the price tag would put the project on par with Brisbane’s Cross River Rail, which requires the tunnelling of heavy rail beneath Brisbane’s CBD and is expected to cost $6.3 billion following a cost blowout of $960 million.
On the lower end of the range, the rail line would cost more than the controversial proposal to redevelop the Gabba ahead of the 2032 Olympics.
“This is a complicated route, this is two creek crossings, this is a significant project, much longer than Stage Three [from Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads],” Mr Mellish said.
He said an estimate within the preliminary evaluation for the final stage was roughly $4.4 billion.
‘Tricky’ project’s viability unknown
Mr Mellish stressed that no state or federal money had been committed to the project so far.
A business case into the project is ongoing, which will aim to find a more accurate cost estimate.
He said he wanted the transport department to put “downward pressure on these costs” and wanted to “know what we are going for before we jump into major construction projects”.
Mr Mellish said it was too early to say whether the project was too expensive.
“But we really do have to have to consider, going forward, the viability of projects where they have very large estimates versus what the benefit would be for the broader transport network,” he said.
“This is a tricky project; there’s no doubt. There’s multiple creek crossings.”
The state government and Gold Coast City Council have each contributed $10 million for planning activities, in the latest update online.
It says the varied price range allows “for unknown risks which will be further clarified and updated in the detailed business case”.
The state government said it has been protecting the light rail corridor through Palm Beach “against encroachment of development” since 2003.
Council will still ‘contribute’
City of Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said the council was still willing to support the project.
He added that he wrote to the state government in October 2022 concerned with escalating construction costs.
“I still have the belief that the earlier we start the cheaper it’ll be. The longer we leave it, the escalation will make it much more difficult,” Cr Tate said.
“So we’re still committed as a council to contribute 11 per cent of the overall price.”
He said he wanted the first two bridges of the project to be built first to speed up the construction process.
“I still want to see the design detail and then from there I would like to have input on the construction phase,” Cr Tate said.
A divisive issue
The project is a divisive issue on the southern end of the Gold Coast and featured heavily in recent local government elections.
Area councillor Gail O’Neill won a very tight council race against anti-light rail campaigner Kath Down in last month’s local government elections.
“I think it sends a very clear message that there’s a lot of residents who are unhappy about the amount of development going on,” Cr O’Neill said.
“There was also a bit of a protest vote about light rail as well, Stage Four, which we don’t actually have any information about at the moment whether it’s going to be approved or not.”
Source: ABC News
