Sleek new-look QR Citytrain unveiled on the Gold Coast

The first public outing of one of the 24 new QR Citytrains, to come into service from early next year, took place during important track testing at Coomera on the Gold Coast line today.

Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Paul Lucas, was on hand to get a sneak peak at the new-look trains which are being built in Maryborough.

QR is expecting to take delivery of the first of the new trains early in 2007 from manufacturer EDI Rail in conjunction with Bombardier Transportation.

The first trains are undergoing significant testing before they operate as regular services.

“You will notice these new trains have a sleek new design, with LED screens inside each carriage for journey information, luggage racks and toilets,” Mr Lucas said.

Other features of the new trains include bigger seats, an improved CCTV security system and passenger emergency functionality, improved leg room, new body shape and interior colour scheme.

The government is investing $270 million on these 24 new three-car trains, which will be delivered progressively until March 2008. Premier Peter Beattie also recently announced a further 60 carriages (20 x three-car sets) will be added to the Citytrain network from early 2009 at a cost of around $260 million.

Mr Lucas said one of the new trains would be added to an existing three-car train service from Robina to the CBD to upgrade it to a six-car train.

“Just this train alone means an extra 217 available seats on the Gold Coast line to the CBD each weekday morning.

“The second new train will go into service on the Gold Coast line to replace an existing three-car train which will be redeployed to the Caboolture line.”

“Plus, this will be followed by a new six-car train – meaning a total of 651 additional seats on this line by mid-next year.”

Mr Lucas said additional track capacity was also required to provide the extra services on the Gold Coast corridor.

Today’s inspection of the new Citytrain included a ride from Coomera Station to Ormeau Station, over the new $22 million tracks finished in early September.

“The second track from Ormeau to Coomera is the first part of the Gold Coast line upgrades and is just one of the $6.6 billion rail infrastructure projects included in the Beattie Government’s 20 year $66 billion South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program (2006-2026),” he said.

The Gold Coast rail upgrades also include a third track between Salisbury and Kuraby stations which began construction in September, and the Helensvale to Robina duplication which started in August.

“What this all boils down to is that over the next two years, Gold Coast commuters will experience a rise in seating capacity on their line by almost 60% for inbound morning services as the new trains arrive and the extra tracks are built.

“The crucial stepping stone in alleviating overcrowding on the Gold Coast line is the completion of the third track from Salisbury to Kuraby in early 2008.

“Once the track is completed, we will increase the track capacity on the Gold Coast line by a huge 50% and add a further two 6-car trains by March 2008 or an extra 868 seats.

“Further improvements to the train schedules will be possible when the duplication from Helensvale to Robina is completed in 2008.”

“Seven stations will also be upgraded as part of the Salisbury to Kuraby work and car parking will be expanded at most stations to cater for the expected growth in patronage.”

“These upgrades demonstrate that we are getting on with the job of building a better future for south east Queensland,” Mr Lucas said.

The next stage of the Gold Coast upgrades is the extension of the line from Robina to Varsity Lakes, which is planned to be completed in July 2009.

“This is good news for people who live south of Robina as it is the first project in the Coolangatta rail extension.

“The Gold Coast is one of the fastest growing regions in Australia. This is about building a transport network to cater for the population boom over the next decade.”

The new services, trains and track were also highlighted in the TransLink Network Plan, which maps out public transport service and infrastructure improvements over the next 10 years and provides a three year program of activities.

Mr Lucas said the TransLink Network Plan represented one of the largest investments the Queensland Government had ever made into Queensland's public transport system.

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