Transport on the Gold Coast is finally on track as preparation for the new light rail project gets under way.

The government has announced GoldLinQ as the company to build the billion-dollar transit network.

Hannah Doody reports.

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It promises to be one of the largest public transport projects in the country. The Gold Coast Rapid Transit Network will stretch thirteen kilometres between Southport and Broadbeach.

The project will deliver over six thousand jobs and inject twenty-five million dollars into the local economy.

The Premier says it will transform the face of the Gold Coast.

Anna Bligh, Queensland Premier: “When it’s completed in 2014, it will give residents and visitors alike an easy, hassle-free way to commute around this wonderful city.”

The government says the rapid growth on the Gold Coast means there’s a huge need for this investment in infrastructure.

Anna Palaszczuk, Queensland Transport Minister: “Here on the Gold Coast we’ll have a city of more than eight hundred thousand people, that’s a lot of people that will need a high frequency, easy to use public transport option.”

But the current plans alone will not cure all the Gold Coast’s transport problems.

Ron Clarke, Gold Coast Mayor: “We have to connect it on one hand to the heavy rail at Helensvale, and then we have to go on if we possibly can in the future to Coolangatta.”

The Premier says they will have to speed up the light rail construction if the Gold Coast wins their bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games. That announcement is expected next week.

The light rail will begin construction late next year.

Hannah Doody, QUT News.