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Gold Coast light rail opens

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Australasia Press Office
21 July 2014

Stage one of the AU$1bn Gold Coast light rail system was opened to the public on Sunday 20 July, unveiling many cutting-edge features and delivering a world-class public transport system for the city centre.

Encompassing 13km of high capacity modern integrated public transit infrastructure, Gold Coast light rail links key activity areas along the Gold Coast from Parklands to Broadbeach with 15 at-grade stations and one underground station.

Working for the GoldLinQ consortium, Arup was the lead design consultant for Stage one of the project, providing detailed design and construction phase services. This world class project enabled us to showcase our global rail skills on a local stage.

The delivery of the detailed design required a multidisciplinary approach, drawing on a number of Arup disciplines including rail alignment, civil alignment, Trackform, traction bonding, permanent way, OHL, drainage, signs and lines, signals, bridge structures, retaining walls, pedestrian modelling, CCTV, conduit, flooding, lighting, pavements, noise and vibration, and geotechnics.

The successful delivery of the project sets a new international benchmark for integrated transport solutions, delivering customer value, successful public private partnerships as well as connecting people and places.

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Through innovation in design, a low impact approach to delivery and excellence in operations, our design solution provides a platform for the city’s continued growth, prosperity, sustainability and improved connectivity. Technically it has been a difficult project owing to its unique site location in a highly constrained area and the challenging ground conditions. We designed an innovative embedded trackform solution, integrating the road and light rail environments – a first for Queensland – while ensuring safety was at the forefront of the design. ”

Arup was also involved in the planning of the light rail system for the Sunshine Coast and for the Sydney Light Rail project. We are the technical advisor for stage one of Canberra Light Rail project as well as being recently appointed to lead a team to undertake the Canberra Light Rail Master Plan project.