Re: Gold coast rail extension?

[dbromage@omni.com.au (David Bromage)]

Short single-purpose branch lines brings in all sorts of problems. If you
had branch lines to Surfers and Southport as well as Coolangatta (I'd
prefer South Tweed), you'd only get every third train running there. The
alternative is a shuttle service on the branch, and if you're going to
make people change for such a short journey you might as well put them
onto a Surfside bus - no infrastructure!

You're better off running a trunk line service with a network of feeder
buses to each station. Note the stations are widely spaced, unlike a
suburban railway. 

The biggest potential would come if the line reached South Tweed via
Coolangatta airport. You could then run direct from Eagle Farm (airport)
once the line is built, with both interurbans and limited express services
between both airports. This removed the need to extend the runway at
Coolangatta to make it an international airport.

Cheers
David