North Coast Rail Line Duplication Project Update

Tenders will be sought next month for the design and construction of Stage 1 of the Beerburrum to Nambour Rail Upgrade on the Sunshine Coast.

In 2019, the Deputy Prime Minister approved funding to progress this upgrade, demonstrating the Australian Government’s long-standing commitment to the project.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said the Beerburrum to Nambour project would deliver a vital boost to Queensland’s major north-south rail corridor, advocated for strongly by Ted O’Brien and Andrew Wallace.

“Reduced travel times, greater service reliability and increased parking at stations will attract more travellers to rail, between the Sunshine Coast region and Brisbane in particular,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

“By investing in projects such as the Beerburrum to Nambour Rail Upgrade, the Australian Government’s $100 billion nationwide infrastructure investment program is supporting jobs and communities at a time when it’s needed most.”

Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads Mark Bailey said the major rail upgrade was ready to move off the page and onto the ground in the coming months.

“Realignment of Steve Irwin Way needs to happen before we can start work in the rail corridor, so it’s pleasing to see progress being made,” Mr Bailey said.

“The 333 jobs and economic stimulus that will be delivered by Stage 1 of the Beerburrum to Nambour Rail Upgrade project are essential for the Sunshine Coast.

“Those new jobs are in addition to more than 2300 jobs being supported by the four Bruce Highway upgrades underway or due to start in the coming months between Caboolture and Gympie.”

The project will include sections of line duplication, as well as station upgrades, new park ‘n’ ride facilities and new rail passing loops.

Proposed works for stage one on the rail upgrade currently include:
• duplication of track north of Beerburrum
• construction of road-over-rail bridges at Beerburrum Road, Barrs Road and Burgess Street
• expansion of park ‘n’ rides at Beerburrum, Landsborough and Nambour
• bus interchange at Landsborough
• relocation of utilities.

Early works to support the upgrade are expected to start early next year, with major construction to follow in 2022.

This includes realigning a one-kilometre section of Steve Irwin Way between Nursery Road and Moffatt Road and boosting park ‘n’ ride facilities with extra spaces at Landsborough station and Nambour station.

Federal Member for Fisher Andrew Wallace said a briefing was held last week for local industry and suppliers seeking work on the broader rail upgrade, while community members would also have more opportunities to get involved.

“The industry briefing was a good opportunity to give local businesses some indication on what kind of work was coming down the line and allow the project team to get early feedback that will help as they develop the final scope for the upgrade,” Mr Wallace said.

“This project will provide local jobs for local people and we want Coast and Hinterland communities to be part of every step of this project.”

Federal Member for Fairfax Ted O’Brien said the 333 jobs created by Stage 1 would be crucial to the local community’s economic recovery.

“The Federal Government has been focused on saving jobs during this pandemic and now we are working harder than ever to create them too,” Mr O’Brien said.

“Jobs change lives and I am very excited for work to begin because I know the opportunities this will bring to our community.”

Planning activities for the project, underway since early 2019, include land surveys and geotechnical investigations, environmental and cultural heritage surveys, hydraulic modelling, traffic counts, park ‘n’ ride design and consultation with affected property owners.

The Australian Government has contributed $390 million and the Queensland Government has contributed $160.8 million to the Beerburrum to Nambour Rail Upgrade.

An online industry briefing was held by TMR to give industry/suppliers an overview of what the first stage of works for that project would entail, so they had an idea on what kind of work would be available to tender for.

Over 300 people/businesses signed up to watch the briefing. Accompanying the briefing presentation, the above flythrough was provided for a visual representation of how the works around Landsborough, Beerburrum were designed.

For more information, please visit www.tmr.qld.gov.au/b2n.

Beerburrum to Nambour Rail Upgrade Project Updated 17 April 2020 | Source: Queensland's Department of Transport & Main Roads Overview:   The Queensland Government is committed to progressively upgrading the priority North Coast Line to improve its safety, efficiency and reliability.  The Beerburrum to Nambour (B2N) Rail Upgrade project will provide additional track capacity and reliability, creating travel time savings and increased passenger and freight services to the growing Sunshine Coast region.

Preconstruction activities have commenced.
 

Location: The North Coast Line between Beerburrum and Nambour stations, covering about 40km in length.
 

Benefits: The full scope of the business case for the B2N project includes duplication of the North Coast Line between Beerburrum and Landsborough stations (around 20 kilometres in length) as well as station upgrades, new park and ride facilities and new rail passing loops between Landsborough and Nambour.

Benefits include:

   •  deliver station upgrades and additional park and ride facilities
   •  fewer delays due to increased track capacity and reliability
   •  reduced peak hour highway congestion between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane
   •  reduced travel times for passengers and freight
   •  attract more passenger and freight services through efficient, accessible and reliable rail infrastructure
   •  reduced infrastructure maintenance and operating costs for this section of track over the life of the project.

Funding: The Australian Government and Queensland Government have committed $550.8 million towards an initial stage of the project ($390 million federal funding, $160.8 million state funding), with the scope for this stage to be confirmed, following completion of the detailed design.

Regions: North Coast and Wide Bay-Burnett Region - North Coast District, North Coast and Wide Bay-Burnett Region - Wide Bay-Burnett District

Project info

Key features of the full scope of the business case for the B2N project include:
 

•  a duplication of the North Coast Line between Beerburrum and Landsborough stations (around 20 kilometres in length)
•  Beerburrum Road and Steve Irwin Way intersection upgrade
•  Beerburrum Station, Landsborough Station and Nambour Station extension of park and ride facilities
•  Caves Road realignment
•  Steve Irwin Way realignment
•  replacement of Barrs Road level crossing with a new connection
•  a new bridge over the rail track at Burgess Street
•  replacing the Caloundra Street level crossing in Landsborough with a road over rail grade separated crossing
•  passing loop extensions at Landsborough, Eudlo and Woombye
•  expansion of park and ride facilities at Palmwoods
•  replacement of the temporary single platforms at Mooloolah, Eudlo, Palmwoods and Woombye stations, with permanent dual platforms connected by lifts and overbridges.

The project will be delivered in stages. Stage one will provide passenger benefits through increased capacity and patronage, improved connectivity between passenger transport modes, increased park 'n' ride capacity, more frequent feeder bus services and improved train service reliability. Full freight benefits will be realised in future stages.

The timing for delivery and staging of construction works will be finalised, confirmed and communicated following the detailed design phase.

Current status: Preconstruction activities for the B2N project have commenced.

Next steps: The Queensland Government will continue to have discussions with the Australian Government regarding funding for future stages to deliver the full scope as detailed in the business case.

Further project information can be found on our Beerburrum to Nambour Rail Upgrade page.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PLAN HERE: Integrated Regional Transport Plan for South East Queensland

Connecting SEQ 2031 - Rail Revolution

30 October 2018 | Source: Sunshine Coast Council

South East Queensland is one of Australia's most desirable places to live and establish a business.

It is expected to continue rapid growth with an anticipated population increase from 3.1 million today to more than 4.4 million in 2031.

The Connecting SEQ 2031 is the Queensland Government's proposed long-term transport plan to develop a sustainable transport system in the region. It also directly supports the South East Queensland Regional Plan.

Key projects to be delivered by 2031 included 'CoastLink' - a heavy-rail Sunshine Coast line between Beerwah and Maroochydore, Cross River Rail, and the upgrade and realignment of the north coast line between Beerburrum and Landsborough.
 

Rail revolution

Connecting SEQ 2031 outlines the plan for a 'rail revolution'; a complete overhaul of the rail system to provide a modern, high capacity network that will mean, for most passengers, rail transport will be quicker and more reliable than driving a car.

New rail lines are included in the plan – expanding the reach of the rail network to more communities across the region.

 

Rail network sectorisation

Enabled by Cross River Rail, the plan proposes to sectorise the rail network:


• UrbanLink – high frequency 'turn up and go', all stops services on the inner network

• ExpressLink – all day (6 am–9 pm) express services connecting outer Brisbane suburbs to destinations across the region

• CoastLink – express services from the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast to Brisbane in about an hour.

CoastLink

The proposed 2031 rail network includes CoastLink services to connect the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast to central Brisbane in about one hour, stopping only at major stations. A reliable, one hour inter-city travel time to the growing coastal centres will:

• reinforce the SEQ Regional Plan principal activity centres as key locations for business with high quality connections to the Brisbane CBD, supporting business growth at these centres
• reduce long distance private vehicle travel due to increased public transport patronage achieved by the new services.

This approach is similar to the European model of smaller cities with their own commuter systems, with connections between each city. For south-east Queensland, rail investment must be strongly matched to economic development, land use and urban development policies to ensure that the necessary jobs are created in the growing coastal cities. Providing CoastLink services also minimises the need for investment in motorway and highway upgrades to cater for regional movements.

Beerburrum to Nambour Rail Upgrade Project

The Beerburrum to Nambour Rail Upgrade Project will involve the duplication of the rail line between Beerburrum and Landsborough, and upgrades between Landsborough and Nambour, including station upgrades and passing loops.

The project aims to deliver the following benefits:

•  travel time savings for peak commuter services, long distance passenger services and freight services
•  attract more passengers and freight customers onto rail services through efficient, accessible and reliable rail infrastructure
•  more integrated transport system, providing additional car parks along the corridor as well as additional bus/rail interchange facilities at Landsborough 
•  fewer cars heading south towards Caboolture in the AM peak period and fewer cars heading north in the PM peak period
•  fewer delays to services on this section of line as a result of increased track capacity enabling the system to recover from disturbances and minimise conflicts between services.

Further project information can be found on our Beerburrum to Nambour Rail Upgrade page.


Caboolture to Maroochydore Study (CAMCOS) Corridor

The Queensland Government continues to protect the CAMCOS corridor for the future. The CAMCOS corridor allows for a future public transport spine for the Sunshine Coast, linking the coastal urban area to Brisbane.

Further project information can be found on our Caboolture to Maroochydore Corridor Study page.

Cross River Rail

The Queensland Government’s highest priority infrastructure project is funded and under construction. This $5.4 billion project will unlock the inner-city core and unleash the potential of the rail network. The project will deliver a more efficient and reliable network and will enable a number of network enhancement projects to be brought forward to support an increase in services, across the wider rail network.

Further information about this project can be found at www.crossriverrail.qld.gov.au.

Light rail on the Gold Coast

Light rail will provide high frequency services to transform the busy coastal movement corridor on the Gold Coast. Construction of light rail from the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct to Broadbeach is well under way, with completion scheduled for 2014.

Connecting SEQ 2031 envisages light rail extending to Coolangatta, with a connection to regional rail services at Helensvale.

 

Brisbane subway

With an extra 100 000 people forecast to live in inner Brisbane (CBD, Spring Hill, Milton, South Brisbane and Fortitude Valley) and employment numbers doubling by 2031, there will be about 2.4 million trips a day in the inner city (up from one million in 2006). To help distribute these trips across the vibrant inner city core, an entirely new and separate Brisbane subway is proposed. The London Underground and New York city subway are well-known examples of this style of rail operation.

There could also be all stops UrbanLink services on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast to cater for local travel in these growing cities.

To download the full plan click here: Integrated Regional Transport Plan for South East Queensland