State Government set to award Beerwah-Caloundra rail stage
By Kirra Livingstone
THE SUNSHINE Coast’s multibillion-dollar ‘Wave’ transport project will be completed before the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games, Transport and Main Roads Minister Brent Mickelberg told local business leaders last week.
Speaking at a Sunshine Coast Business Council corporate luncheon last Friday (June 20), Mr Mickelberg said his government was finalising a contractor for Stage 1 of the project—the heavy rail line from Beerwah to Caloundra.
“We will award the contract in the back end of this year for construction of Stage 1 of The Wave, and that process will continue through to Stage 2 (Caloundra to Birtinya), which we will look to do next year in 2026,” he said.
“At the moment we are going through a design phase for Stage 2 and 3 of The Wave, so we can get on with the job of building it.”
The $5.5 billion Stage 1 is jointly funded on a 50:50 basis by the state and federal governments, with further funding details for later stages expected in this week’s State Budget.
Mr Mickelberg said he was confident the project would meet its 2032 Games deadline.
“It must be and it will be,” he said.
“It’s important for the Games but it’s more important for our longterm productivity and way of life here on the Sunshine Coast.
“We can’t afford not to build this infrastructure because if the infrastructure is not in place, we simply won’t cope with the population growth we have already seen to this point.
“This infrastructure should have been built 10 or 20 years ago, but we are where we are now, and we are focusing on getting on with the job and delivering it.”
Mr Mickelberg said The Wave would be the largest road and rail project on the Sunshine Coast since the $960 million Caloundra Road to Sunshine Motorway upgrade.
“Just the first stage of The Wave will be $5.5 billion so it’s a considerable increase,” he said.
“The Mooloolah River interchange is also a massive road project which will deliver big benefits, so there’s a huge opportunity here on the Sunshine Coast.
“We want Sunshine Coast businesses to be involved right through that procurement process.”
He said his appearance at the event aimed to ensure local businesses were across how to benefit from the project.
“We will provide an update on what The Wave is and what it will look like, but more importantly how local businesses can get involved in this massive investment on the Sunshine Coast,” he said.
“We know The Wave will deliver great benefits to commuters and those who use public transport when it’s built.
“But in the meantime as well, this is a great opportunity for businesses to grow their capability and take advantage of a major procurement, this will be the largest project on the Sunshine Coast by a huge factor.”
Sunshine Coast Business Council chair Sandy Zubrinich stressed the importance of ensuring the project is delivered before the Games.
“All growing regions need excellent communication, technologies as well as transport, which is very important, to get rail into between Brisbane and Maroochydore is something the business council have been discussing for eight to ten years,” she said.
“To start to see that likely to happen, even though it’s going to be multi mode approach in the initial instance, we are still very keen to keep reminding them that we do want rail into Maroochydore.”