I am not in favour of Council’s proposal for light rail (or the American Maglev Technology) on the Sunshine Coast. Looking at the proposed routes, the cost will be billions and interrupt the lifestyle for many residents and businesses on the coast, for many years. We simply cannot afford such an expensive proposal. We would be better off channeling the money into heavy rail to solve many of the commuter issues on the Bruce Highway and help those who commute to Brisbane each day.
Bring back CAMCOS and the heavy rail option. It’s cheaper and more convenient for commuters & tourists to/from Brisbane. It’s a real solution to ease Bruce Highway traffic also. Light rail may be ok for the Gold Coast and Sydney where it’s much harder to allocate a rail corridor, but we have that space on the Sunshine Coast already set aside. The State Government has recently guaranteed to protect the CAMCOS corridor. The extensive studies for CAMCOS, going back 20 years or more, have proven that heavy rail is a cheaper and more effective option. The corridors are already built for it, and no one wants a tram running down the esplanade ruining our view.
Extend the North Coast Rail Network and connect heavy rail from Landsborough, Caloundra South, Caloundra, Kawana, Maroochydore, and back out to Woombye. With the new Maroochydore CBD, the perfect time is now to develop Maroochydore train station. Then increase train services between Gympie and Caboolture for real change.
Plan for the future, not just help tourists get around while they are here in pretty trams. We already have an effective bus network that does that. I welcome your thoughts.
