MP Fiona Simpson has called on the State Labor Government to “get on board” with heavy rail to Maroochydore on the CAMCOS corridor, take ownership and forget light rail as an expensive diversion.
“Council’s light rail focus is a diversion which has been championed by council to increase high levels of density along Nicklin Way and Alexandra Parade while removing lanes of traffic,” Ms Simpson said. “The majority of the public don’t want that as their public transport solution.
“We need heavy rail to Maroochydore on the CAMCOS route, but the State Government has unfortunately sabotaged the business case for heavy rail to Maroochydore,” Ms Simpson said.
“There are two significant reasons Infrastructure Australia marked down the business case for North Coast Connect which included CAMCOS and heavy rail to Maroochydore and both reasons involved the Queensland Government.
“They found the Queensland Government didn’t include heavy rail to Maroochydore in their current transport strategies and that there was no ownership of the project which made it a ‘delivery risk’.”
“I note that Infrastructure Australia also said that they would welcome the opportunity to review a revised business case that includes a stronger case and addressed these delivery risks.
“For this project to move forward, the State Government needs to take ownership and include it in their current transport strategies so the business case can be progressed with further work,” Ms Simpson said.
Reference: North Coast Connect Evaluation Summary (infrastructureaustralia.gov.au)
