The NSW Government is funding a multi-million study looking at extending the Gold Coast light rail network south into the Tweed, and possibly as far as Byron Bay.
But the announcement has been met with skepticism by NSW Labor’s shadow minister for the North Coast Walt Secord, who said few people doubted it would ever happen.
Nevertheless, Tweed MP Geoff Provest said he would meet Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to discuss the link-up but pointed out that interstate negotiations had been ongoing since last year when the Gold Coast City council endorsed plans to take trams to the border.
The Tweed Shire Council has also backed the proposal, with Deputy Mayor Chris Cherry and councillor Warren Polglase telling Gold Coast media that there was strong political support for the light rail to stretch south of the border.
Byron Shire mayor Simon Richardson has also thrown his support behind the idea saying a million visitors could visit Byron without their cars.
Mr Secord said however that he was skeptical.
‘In principle, I welcome the funding of a study on the possibility of extending the Gold Coast light rail project from the Queensland border down to Byron Bay, but it is like all National Party promises,’ Mr Secord said.
‘It is just a promise and very few people believe it will actually happen.
‘I will give Geoff Provest the benefit of the doubt this time … if he gets a light rail track constructed from the Gold Coast down to Byron Bay, I will be the first person to shake his hand and congratulate him.
‘The Nationals and Tweed MP Geoff Provest have a dreadful track record when it actually comes to delivery. They promise big and deliver very little.
‘The North Coast is littered with broken promises. Geoff Provest promised to increase police numbers; upgrade the Tweed Hospital; a high school for Pottsville and a homeless centre for the region – and in all cases, nothing has happened.
‘Deep down in my heart I want to believe Geoff Provest will deliver the promise, but his track record says otherwise.’
There’s an old saying. “Be careful what you wish for. ” Rail will no doubt bring more vistors to Byron and business owners will be happy. However, relatively cheap rail fares will result in an influx of people who may scrape together the money to come but do not have the resources to leave. I think that if the rail line goes ahead you can expect a spike in the incidence of homelessness and crime. Just a thought.
It is not going to happen Joe.
To approve this, the Government will have to approve the Casino to Murwillumbah railway.
A multi million dollar assessment to do the obvious….why not ask the potential investers for ideas and submissions on how to supply the service given there is no question regarding the potential of the service, surely such an approach would indeed save the govt i.e the taxpayers
I have to travel from Burringbar to Brisbane regularly. I would love to be able to take the train all the way. To see that rail line rusting away and getting overgrown is such a waste!
We have yet to see the TORs but in line with the long term plan envisaged in the Tweed Transport Plan what you would would be examined would be a rail down the Tweed Coast, not over the old North Coast alignment through the Burringbar Range. And to link to the QLD rail it would need to be on narrow gauge replacing or supplanting the current standard gauge line if were to link up with the old alignment presumably from Yelgun to the Bay. The time-frame is likely to be quite long, so in the meanti notes below me and as SurfRailwe should focus on developing regular bus services, including public transport along the likely coastal route , which will provide much of the benefit of light rail until the LR is viable.
There is no chance the light rail will ever extend any further south than the Tweed – not at $60m or so a km the Gold Coast light rail costs to expand. A route from Coolangatta to Byron over 60-odd km would cost over $3.6 billion, and that is being conservative.
More importantly, it is completely the wrong mode for a journey of that distance, and there is nowhere near enough patronage demand to keep it running at the kind of headways which would justify it being built in the first place. For distances of that duration, you build mainline railways if there is enough demand, otherwise you put people on a comfy intercity coach and accept that is the price for living in a rural regional part of the country.
The furthest I can conceivably see the light rail going would be Kingscliff which is where the main pattern of settlement for the Tweed/Gold Coast ends and it starts being replaced by small townships with little to nothing in between. It is more likely it would go no further than Tweed City or at best somewhere in Banora Point.
The population of Byron and surrounds really needs to start making a lot more noise about improving local bus services throughout the region – they are woefully bad, and could be fixed much more cheaply than any kind of capital outlay associated with a rail project. The Northern Rivers simply does not have the population to make regular mainline rail services viable other than on the basis of a few trips a day at best. All of that outlay could be flung at getting buses running more often and later into the evening.
Given that there is a railmotor about to commence operation in the near future on what appears to be a reasonably sustainable basis, any other efforts associated with restoring rail should focus around expanding that to places like Mullumbimby and Bangalow. It is the most realistic way to see any kind of usable rail service in the area.
You’re right about the costs of building the gold coast light rail but that doesn’t mean that trams can’t run on the c-m heavy rail line. After all, light rail just means a tram, which can be diesel or solar hybrid like the train coming to Byron soon.
I think it would great to see the Byron train extended out to bangalow and Mullum and eventually up to murwillumbah and tweed. Its only about 30km from murwillumbah to coolangatta.
After the arup study in 2013 we did get a lot if extra bus services in the region but they still don’t connect the shires very well and the other problem is that buses add a lot if damage to the roads. They create more potholes than the number if cars they can take off the roads. Lismore and Byron shires can’t even afford the road maintenance. That is how a rail service could be very beneficial.
Angie You continue to try and perpetuate the myth that buses create substantial damage on our roads. Buses in Australia are not overloaded and they are a small percentage of traffic – the damage they cause is minimal and more than funded through registration and excise costs. You are right that it may be more than the damage caused by cars – private cars do very little damage to our roads. The public costs of running bus services are quite small and pale in comparison with the heavy subsidies that were needed to run rail services and would be needed to replace existing bus services with rail. Denise is correct to express concern at the neglect of public transport; in the Northern Rivers improving is needed at that can be done more cheaply and with much better services using well timetabled bus services. The poor state of roads in the Byron Shire has nothing to do with buses – other Shires manage road maintenance more proactively and this greatly reduces outlays over time. If you want better roads vote for parties and Councillors that have this as a priority and do it in a proactive programmed way ; if you want better public transport vote for parties that will implement an approach that is based on peoples’ needs, not just in response to a noisy minority..
Tourism,Jobs,Transport.Doesn’t anybody get it!
What’s needed is for the Casino – Murwillumbah line to be restored and extended to the Gold Coast Airport. Anything less than that is just a waste of time and money.
The Casino to Murbah line was closed because it was a waste of NSW peoples’ money. The ACT is building a wasteful light rail, but they will pay for it through higher rates. If the people along the line think this is good value than just get your Councils to pay for the service and increase your rates . Why should other people in NSW subsidise a poor public transport solution for the vocal ratepayers of the Shires and city that it passes through?
Over crowding, more pollution, wildlife habitat destruction, increased crime etc,etc. Yeah Johnno, we get it,
I just don’t think you do.
This would be wonderful! Future generations are going to be amazed at how we persisted with putting thousands of cars on the road rather than improving and expanding public transport systems. I hope this will happen!
Fantastic news. Unfortunately some people still cannot see past their nose on this but I think in due course this will be resolved.
It doesn’t need to use the Casino to Murwillumbah rail line, and a route straight down the highway could be a possible route, although obviously something that connects the towns would be much better, so the Murwillumbah Line is a good option. It should be noted however it is not the ONLY route and there are other options available.
It is a great idea but I think the NSW Govt is ‘all-talk’!
My last child has just started at Griffith Uni at the Gold Coast which has the new flash Gold Coast University Hospital right next door with a light rail station in between.
My first child went to Southern Cross in Lismore.
Neither child has/had accessible, safe nor affordable transport to or from uni…. or anywhere for that matter.
I keep hearing the excuse that there won’t be enough patronage… but of course noone wants to commit to a transportation system which does not operate outside of business hours. Even then… you couldn’t commit to a daylight job in Lismore if you live on the coast because you couldn’t get home. No such thing as a social life, either, if you are reliant on public transport.
We’ve been here for over 20 years and the only thing the NSW Govt have done about transport is to take away the train. No growth no jobs and no prospects is what we get lumped with while the only offering is to send us more day-trippers who don’t pay their way.
More representation of the people and less ‘governing’ and pocket-lining is what is required!
Whilst it is entirely worthy to support the reinstatement of a passenger rail service on the North Coast, there is something potentially mischievous about the politics here. On the surface it would seem to be a forward-thinking idea. But then you have to look at whose proposing it and that’s where it gets tricky. We all remember how entirely useful and effective Nationals Don Page has been in lobbying for something as basic as a localised rail service, don’t we? So methinks there’s good reason to be just a tad skeptical and dubious about the true motives of the proponents here. Just saying….
I believe the light rail is not suitable for long distance trips. They are designed for the local cities.
I disagree with the decision to stop at Byron Bay. What about Lismore, Ballina, Eltham, Bangalow and Lennox Heads?
Mark my words when I say that those who are really keen about the Light Rail going down to Byron Bay are the developers…and foreign ones at that. They are only interested in making money and couldn’t care less about the impact on lifestyle and the environment. If they have their way, their will be high rise all along the coast with a changed demographic!
It would be good, Walt, if you gave ‘Politics’, a miss, and started supporting any effort to improve transport throughout this area, while the majority of the rail corridor still exists. Plenty of time for ‘I told you’s’, later.
If you don’t have anything positive to say just pull your head in. You certainly do not impress me.
In my view a Mainline Rail extension would be more viable in the long run, because the current levels of population and Industry along the route will flourish with access to rail services.
There is no chance the Light Rail will come any further south that the Gold Coast Airport Terminal. The Terminal is to have a major upgrade, and it has been toted that the mayor of the Gold Coast Tom Tate wants the train to terminate at the terminal, as that brings money to the Gold Coast.
So the next bit is to get the train from the terminal to the Qld/NSW border and that will need a major upheaval in ethos over 30 years to turn airport passengers south instead of north.
If they come south just where will they cross the border as the Gold Coast council, and maybe the Qld government will want the train to go to the town of Coolangatta from the Airport terminal. That then upsets the plans for NSW. Will the train go to Tweed Heads CBD just because the Queenslanders would want it to go that way for young people and the night life and make it a very slow, slow, and slower train that it should be for the night life people who drink alcohol and party.
A coastal commuter rail line from the Gold Coast down to Byron Shire makes much sense , the notion that it will result in only one way traffic is ludicrous , it will work both ways , people in Byron Shire will be able to go shopping etc in Queensland without the traffic and parking hassles , especially in the Brisbane CBD . Even local people who want to go to Byron for dinner and have a few glasses of wine , or attend a band without worrying if they are borderline 0.05% could benefit , not to mention the parking hassles . But as with every idea ( especially this one which should have happened 50 years ago ) there will be a sea of negativity from the usual crowd of whingers and nimbys .
Where is the source of this story? Fake News?