‘Plucked from the sky’: Queensland government questions funding for Sunshine Coast rail project

Queensland treasurer Cameron Dick says a Sunshine Coast rail line will cost more than the $3.2bn suggested by the Morrison government. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

Queensland’s transport minister has described the budget eve announcement of a train line from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast as being in “circus sort of territory”, saying the promised money appeared “plucked out of the sky”.

But commuter advocates have welcomed the promised Sunshine Coast extension as having the potential to “revolutionise” public transport from Brisbane to the beaches.