Australia’s first and last tourist monorail is to close for good at SeaWorld on the Gold Coast after nearly four decades.
This beloved attraction was the first of its kind in Australia when it opened in 1986, but has been dormant since 2019.
After 330,000 trips around the park, Village Roadshow Theme Parks chief operating officer Bikash Randhawa said the railway would close.
‘The monorail opened at Sea World in 1986 to become Australia’s first monorail system and, following its closure, its last,’ he said.
In 38 years of service, the monorail completed 330,000 trips around the park, the equivalent of 44 trips around Australia.
Despite being much loved, the railway closed in 2019 amid construction of the new $50 million New Atlantis attraction.
There was speculation about its future amid reports of deteriorating infrastructure and difficulties in obtaining necessary parts.
“The support infrastructure we had was no longer available around the world,” Randhawa told 9News.
Sea World’s monorail will close after 330,000 trips around the park, equivalent to 44 trips around Australia
“That’s why we’ve made the decision to close the monorail.”
Mr Randhawa said that, like many families, he had “fond memories” of the railway and had “tried very hard” to keep it running.
He said demolition was expected to begin along Seaworld Drive inside the Sea World park by the end of the year.
Dale Beer, who has been a driver on the Sea World monorail for eight years, told the Courier Mail the train had been “amazing”.
“I’m happy to have those memories, but I welcome the potential future (at the park),” he said.
Online users shared their devastation at the closure, with one commenting that it was “the end of an era”.
Australia had only four monorails in operation, with two others in Queensland and one in Sydney, but all have since closed.
The monorail was the first of its kind in Australia when it opened in 1986, but has not been in use since 2019.
