Light-rail may be reaching Coolangatta sooner than expected thanks to the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Before we heard news of the Commonwealth Games coming to the Gold Coast, the State Government had announced that the final stage of the light-rail project (which included Coolangatta) wouldn’t be starting until 2021.

Now that the Gold Coast has to prepare for a huge international event though, a lot of local projects will be fast-tracked so that they’re ready in time for the games.

It has been reported that the light-rail route will be one of the fast-tracked projects, extending the currently planned network to Helensvale, Coolangatta and east to Robina. Park-and-ride facilities to Molendinar, Helensvale and Merrimac are also said to be priorities.

It is likely that the State Government will try to fast track the projects that help improve access to the Gold Coast airport, as this will be wear visitors form their first impressions of the Gold Coast. Because of this it will be important for travellers to have easy access to their destinations from the airport.

Apart from the extension to the light-rail route, the Gold Coast can also possibly expect improvements to our bus network, road improvements and maybe even the fast –tracking of heavy-rail which currently isn’t expected until around 2031.

So hopefully the Commonwealth Games will mean that we get to see a lot of changes and investment in transport infrastructure over the coming years, which will be great for locals and for visitors too.