light rail

light rail

GC light rail milestone celebrated

GOLD Coast Light Rail developer GoldlinQ has celebrated 10 years of “successful delivery and operations” of Gold Coast light rail having been awarded the contract to design, build, operate and maintain Stage 1 of the Gold Coast light rail in June 2011.

Gold Coast light rail is an 18-year Public-Private-Partnership between the Queensland Government and GoldlinQ Pty Ltd with Stage One opening to passengers in July 2014.

Since that time, the system has seemingly proven successful having carried more than 55 million passengers with patronage increasing 33 percent when the Stage 2 extension to Helensvale opened in December 2017.

GoldlinQ’s Chairman since foundation, John Witheriff, said the G:link trams were now synonymous with the Gold Coast.

“There are more than 400 tram and light rail systems worldwide and since the year 2000 almost 200 cities have introduced new tramways and I can confidently say Gold Coast light rail has been one of the most successful,” Witheriff said.

“Since the introduction of light rail as part of TransLink’s integrated network, overall annual public transport use in the city has grown substantially with an increase of up to 50.1 per cent in total passenger trips on light rail and buses, based on pre-COVID patronage.

“G:link has achieved outstanding operational performance and high levels of passenger satisfaction for the past seven years with the Stage 3 extension to Burleigh Heads to further enhance passenger outcomes.”

GoldlinQ is responsible for the design, construction, operations and maintenance of the system and has undertaken procurement for the 6.7-kilometre Stage 3 extension to Burleigh Heads with construction to commence in 2021.

GoldlinQ CEO Phil Mumford said each stage of the Gold Coast light rail had been delivered with joint funding from the Queensland government, City of Gold Coast and the Australian government.

“Gold Coast light rail was the first public transport project in Australia to be delivered with funding commitments from all levels of government,” he said.

“There have been many milestones achieved over the past 10 years and we look forward to maintaining equally high standards for the remainder of our contract term through to 2029.

“GoldlinQ’s equity partners have extensive experience in financing social infrastructure and transportation infrastructure projects with the Gold Coast light rail a truly world leading project.”

GoldlinQ’s Operations and Maintenance Contractor is Keolis Downer Gold Coast with its equity investors including:

  • Plenary Group;
  • Marubeni Group;
  • Palisade Australian Social Infrastructure Funds;
  • International Public Partnerships (IPP) Australia;
  • Keolis SA.

GoldlinQ has achieved many significant milestones in the past decade including:

  • 2011: GoldlinQ Pty Ltd is formally established in mid-2011 having been appointed to design, construct, operate, maintain and finance Stage 1 under an 18-year Public Private Partnership
  • 2012: Major construction on Stage 1 begins
  • 2013: The G:link operations brand is unveiled
  • 2014: Stage 1 opens to passengers on Sunday 20 July
  • 2015: GoldlinQ is appointed to undertake procurement for Stage 2
  • 2016: Stage 2 construction begins
  • 2017: Stage 2 opens to passengers on Sunday 17 December
  • 2018: More than 1.1 million travel on board G:link in 11 days during the GC2018 Commonwealth Games 2019: GoldlinQ is appointed to undertake procurement for Stage 3
  • 2020: Successful operations and the competitive tender process for Stage 3 continue
  • 2021: Stage 3 construction to begin