page_title: Trams in Australia
section_title: Gold Coast
hierarchical_section_title: Trams in Australia / Networks / Queensland / Gold Coast
caption_attribution_description: English: Tram leaving Broadwater Parklands on the Gold Coast Light Rail.
context_page_description: The earliest trams in Australia operated in the latter decades of the 19th century, hauled by horses or "steam tram motors". At the turn of the 20th century, propulsion almost universally turned to electrification, although cable trams lingered in Melbourne. In cities and towns that had trams, they were a major part of public transport assets.
  In the middle of the 20th century trams fell out of favour, in part because of deferred maintenance during World War II and declining patronage resulting from increased private car ownership. Lines were closed or severely cut back except in Melbourne: its network of 24 routes covering 250 km is now the largest in the world.
  Since the turn of the 21st century tramway networks have been reconstructed in Sydney and Newcastle, extended in Adelaide and brand new systems have been built on the Gold Coast and in Canberra.
  Restored vintage trams are very popular in their various forms. Most operate on sections of former operational lines such as at Bendigo and Ballarat in Victoria or on purpose-built tracks in association with museums such as at St Kilda, South Australia; Whiteman Park, Western Australia; and Launceston, Tasmania.
context_section_description: The first modern light rail system in Queensland opened on the Gold Coast in 2014. Called G:link, it runs on a single 20-kilometre line between Helensvale railway station  and Broadbeach via Gold Coast University Hospital, Southport and Surfers Paradise. The route forms a public transport spine on the Coast and connects with bus services along the route. A northern extension, from the original terminus at Gold Coast University Hospital to Helensvale railway station, was completed in 2018 before the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
caption: Flexity 2 G:link tram on the Gold Coast
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "SONY DSC", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "NEX-C3", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "350", "Image YResolution": "350", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2015:03:05 13:05:31", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 6, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, ... ]", "Image ExifOffset": "392", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1174", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5729", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1600", "EXIF FNumber": "10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:09:28 13:44:43", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:09:28 13:44:43", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "987/100", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Daylight", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "22", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4727", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2202", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1048", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "33", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[18, 55, 7/2, 28/5]", "EXIF LensModel": "E 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OSS"}