More than a million electric tram trips were taken on the Gold Coast in July, a new monthly record for the light rail service.
The popular service had been expected to break the monthly million mark this year, Gaven member Meaghan Scanlon says, adding she’s pleased to see the record confirmed by TransLink’s latest numbers for July.
“The fact we’re still seeing strong and consistent passenger growth five years after light rail started shows what a valued and dependable public transport service it has become for the Coast,” she says.
“More than 42 million trips have been taken on the ‘G’ over that full five-year journey and the latest monthly record just confirms how important it is to get a fair deal from Canberra to help us get on with the next stage to Burleigh.”
Transport and main roads minister Mark Bailey says the Palaszczuk Government’s $351m commitment to that stage announced last week showed it was serious about getting on with the job.
“We’re on board, mayor Tom Tate and his council are ready to go – the only thing holding the project back is the lack of a serious offer from Canberra,” he says.
“They’ve put up $112 million, just 16% of what it will cost to deliver Stage 3A, which is frankly an insult for a large city like the Gold Coast.
“We need the Morrison Government to get on board to allow construction to start next year.”
Stage 3A would extend the route by seven kilometres from Broadbeach South to Burleigh Heads and include eight new train stations.
Translink data confirms more than 42.1 million passengers boarding G:link trams since services began in July 2014.
Busiest stations in 2018-19 were Cavill Avenue with (1.67m boardings) followed by Broadbeach South (1.49m), Southport (1.1m), Helensvale (1.09m) and Gold Coast University Hospital Station (900,000).
The figures support a wider trend in record public transport use in south east Queensland.
Close to 190 million trips taken were on south east buses, trains, trams and ferries in 2018/19 – seven million more than the previous financial year.
