Nambour Chamber of Commerce President Timothy Smith said locals were outraged to learn that the recently published mapping for the Fast Rail project failed to include Nambour .

Nambour’s business community is calling for the town to be added back into the plans for the proposed fast rail corridor connecting the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane rather than diverting at Beerwah to Caloundra and Maroochydore. 

Mr Smith said ignoring Nambour  would represent breathtaking short-sightedness.

“Nambour is a thriving business and cultural hub for the Sunshine Coast, and that’s only set to intensify as our population expands,” Mr Smith said.  

“With the Sunshine Coast’s premier events venue in the Nambour Showgrounds and our Special Entertainment Precinct zoning, Nambour is the heart of the Coast’s convention and entertainment industry, as well as being a centre for health, education, tourism and hospitality. We’re also the gateway to the natural assets of the Sunshine Coast’s hinterland, which sets us apart from anywhere else in South East Queensland.  

“To exclude Nambour from the fast rail network is to ignore the vital part our town plays in the expansion of the Coast’s population and economy over the next 50 years and beyond.

“Our community is crying out for a more efficient connection to Brisbane, and a high speed rail network will facilitate this and also allow for more visitation not only to our part of the Sunshine Coast but provide for a way of de-congesting the road network on the coast by way of the bus / rail interchange in Nambour”.

Mr Smith said the Chamber would be mounting a strong campaign to ensure the tracks to Nambour are included in the project, which is currently at a business case assessment stage with Infrastructure Australia.

North Coast Connect was first floated in 2018 as a fast rail project set to slash travel times to 45 minutes from the Coast to Brisbane. Plans were for a connection to Nambour in five years and Maroochydore in 10 years.