The biggest change from Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 3 hasn't happened yet. From 7 September the bus network across the southern Gold Coast is rebuilt around the new line. Route 700 stops at Burleigh Heads and hands over to the tram instead of continuing up the coast. That sounds like a subtraction. It isn't. Those service hours come back as a new Route 701, every 15 minutes through the day, seven days a week, running The Pines and Elanora through Burleigh across to Varsity Lakes and Robina. I led community engagement on the Stage 3 detailed business case in 2018, and a lot of that was explaining network integration to people who wanted to talk about their bus. A north to south tram spine would let the buses run east to west. The southern end would finally get the coast to suburbs connections it had never had. Route 701 is that argument with a timetable. Opening day was the celebration. From 7 September the tram starts working for people who won't ever board one. #GoldCoast #PublicTransport #CommunityEngagement #Infrastructure #Queensland